OpenAI is moving closer to one of the most anticipated stock market debuts in history, with plans to file for an initial public offering within days, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Chief executive Sam Altman is targeting a public debut in September 2026, marking a major shift for a company that began as a nonprofit research lab in 2015.
1. It could be the biggest IPO ever
OpenAI is reportedly aiming to raise $60bn (€55.4bn) in its stock market debut. According to Deutsche Bank Research, this would more than double Saudi Aramco’s 2019 listing of $25.6bn (€23.6bn), the largest IPO on record at the time.
There is a caveat. SpaceX, which filed its own IPO prospectus this week, is targeting a raise of up to $75bn (€69.1bn). It is seeking a valuation of between $1.75tr (€1.61tr) and $2tr (€1.84tr). This puts the two companies in direct competition for the largest listing in history.
The Wall Street Journal reported this week that OpenAI has engaged Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley to prepare a prospectus that could be filed confidentially with regulators within days.
2. A $1tr valuation would make it the 14th biggest company in the world
Reports suggest OpenAI could be valued at more than $1tr (€922bn) at listing. Deutsche Bank Research analyst Adrian Cox has crunched the numbers on what that would mean, and it would place the ChatGPT maker just behind Berkshire Hathaway.
The conglomerate generated revenues of over $370bn (€341bn) and net earnings of $67bn (€61.8bn) last year. OpenAI would rank just ahead of Eli Lilly, whose sales topped $65bn (€59.9bn) with a profit of $21bn (€19.4bn).
Nvidia remains far ahead. The company has one of the largest market capitalisation in the world and is the closest public markets have to a large pure-play AI investment. It is valued at $5.4tr (€4.98tr), after its shares surged more than 13-fold since ChatGPT launched on 30 November 2022, Deutsche Bank Research notes.
3. Investors are chasing pure-play AI exposure
At present, retail investors seeking AI exposure have limited options. They can invest in semiconductor firms, cloud providers, or large technology companies.
According to Deutsche Bank Research, an OpenAI listing would trigger “a scramble to make the most of investor appetite for direct exposure to pure-play AI companies in the public markets” — something that simply does not exist today.
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4. The AI IPO race is heating up
OpenAI is not alone. Anthropic, the maker of Claude, has been growing rapidly.
