OpenAI's average stock compensation hits $1.5M, highest of any tech startup in history

OpenAI's average stock-based compensation reached $1.5M per employee across its ~4,000 workforce in 2025, the highest of any major tech startup. Nearly 46% of annual revenue goes toward stock comp. At its $830B valuation, an IPO could mint thousands of multimillionaires. Google's early-2000s IPO, the closest comparison, offered about $250K per employee in inflation-adjusted terms, roughly one-sixth of OpenAI's level. The equity strategy appears driven by retention as Anthropic, Meta, Microsoft, and Google aggressively poach AI talent.

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