OpenAI Reserves $50 Billion for Stock Grant Pool

OpenAI last fall set aside an employee stock grant pool worth 10% of the company, which was valued in October at $500 billion, according to two people with knowledge of the plans. The $50 billion pool of restricted stock units should last for roughly five years and should rise in value as the company’s private share price continues to increase.

The employee stock grant pool, which hasn’t previously been reported, stands out for its size relative to the stock compensation expenses of much larger rivals such as Meta Platforms and Google. The move shows that OpenAI plans to continue spending heavily on recruiting and rewarding talent after a surge in employee-related expenses in the last two years.