OpenAI buys back $7 billion of employee shares in tender offer

OpenAI has completed a deal to help employees sell roughly $7 billion worth of shares in the company ahead of a possible Wall Street debut, according to a person familiar with the matter.

The ChatGPT maker bought back shares from current and former employees rather than tapping outside investors for the tender offer, said two people, who spoke on condition of anonymity as the information is not public. The deal valued the startup at $852 billion, the people said, unchanged from its most recent funding round.