Thrive Capital to Lead Purchase of OpenAI Employee Shares at $80 Billion-Plus Valuation

Investment firm Thrive Capital is leading a deal to buy OpenAI shares from employees through  a tender offer that would give the company a paper valuation of at least $80 billion, according to a person with direct knowledge. The deal would boost OpenAI’s valuation by at least three times from a similar transaction the startup made six months ago.

The deal would expand Thrive’s investment in the artificial intelligence developer, which sold employee shares to Thrive and other investors around April at a valuation of $27 billion. OpenAI’s new valuation would be more than 60 times its annualized revenue and make it one of the most highly valued firms backed by venture capital.