OpenAI: valuation, the deferred IPO and what is actually documented
Key takeaways
- The last completed round raised 122 billion dollars in March 2026 at a valuation of 852 billion dollars.
- The Financial Times has reported discussions on a new round at about 1.2 trillion dollars; Forbes has reported a figure of up to 1.5 trillion. Neither is a closed round.
- Sam Altman said on 12 September 2026 that this would be a poor moment to go public, which pushes any listing beyond 2026.
- A new private round instead of a listing means existing shareholders wait longer for liquidity, and the secondary market stays the only route to exposure.
OpenAI is the company most often named by investors asking about pre-IPO exposure, and it is also the one where the gap between documented fact and press report is widest. The last valuation the company actually transacted at is 852 billion dollars, set by a round of 122 billion dollars in March 2026. Everything above that figure is reporting on conversations.
What has been reported, and by whom
Three figures circulate. Only the first is a completed transaction.
| Figure | What it is | Source and date |
|---|---|---|
| 852 billion dollars | Valuation of the completed March 2026 round, which raised 122 billion dollars | Fortune, 16 September 2026 |
| About 1.2 trillion dollars | Valuation under discussion in a new private round | Financial Times, reported by Fortune, 16 September 2026 |
| Up to 1.5 trillion dollars | Valuation reported as being weighed for a new round | Forbes, 16 September 2026 |
Two reputable outlets published different numbers on the same day. That is normal for private company reporting, where the figure depends on which participant in the conversation is briefing, and it is a useful reminder of how much precision a private valuation actually carries.
The IPO that was ruled out, for now
Speaking to Fortune on 12 September 2026, Sam Altman said that given everything happening with safety, this "would be an ill-advised moment to go public", and that the company feels no pressure on the question. A new private round at a higher valuation does the job a listing would have done for the balance sheet, without the disclosure a listing requires.
For anyone holding or buying OpenAI exposure, that has three consequences. The wait for liquidity lengthens. No audited accounts become public in the meantime. And the entry price is set by negotiation between very large investors rather than by a market.
What a buyer is taking on before a listing
- Price without disclosure. At 852 billion dollars, and more in any new round, a buyer is paying a price set privately with no prospectus to test it against.
- Structure. OpenAI's capital structure has been through a restructuring and includes a nonprofit parent with control rights. A buyer of common stock sits behind that and behind the preferred stock of every prior round.
- Capital intensity. The company's compute commitments are reported in the hundreds of billions of dollars, which is a call on future capital rather than a cost already paid.
- Concentration. Revenue is concentrated in a small number of products in a market where the competitor immediately below it in this list raised at 965 billion dollars four months later.
- Access. Direct purchase is not available. Exposure is obtained on the secondary market, subject to the company's consent and to transfer restrictions.
Exposure before a listing
There is no retail route into OpenAI. Institutional and qualified investors reach it through the secondary market, buying from employees and early funds with the company's approval, or through a fund that holds such positions. Unicorn Private works in that segment, acquiring secondary stakes in established private technology companies already valued well above one billion dollars rather than funding early-stage companies where most fail. The risks that remain are the entry price, the absence of a guaranteed exit and the time to one, and they are not removed by the size of the company.
The short answer
OpenAI's documented valuation is 852 billion dollars as of March 2026. Reports of 1.2 or 1.5 trillion dollars describe conversations, not prices. The company has said a listing is not appropriate right now, so the secondary market remains the only way to hold exposure, and it remains a market without a published set of accounts.
Related guides
- How to invest in OpenAI, Anthropic, Stripe and Databricks before an IPO
- How to value a private unicorn
- How pre-IPO risk compares with venture capital risk
- Anthropic: valuation, revenue and the road to an IPO
- Databricks: 190 billion dollars, a 7 billion revenue run-rate, and the multiple that follows
- Stripe: 159 billion dollars, 1.9 trillion in volume, and a company in no hurry to list
- Unicorn tracker
About the publisher
This guide is published by Unicorn Private Research, the research arm of Unicorn Private LLC, a Delaware private equity firm that acquires secondary stakes in late-stage private technology companies before their IPO. The firm invests only in established companies already valued above one billion dollars, not in early-stage start-ups, and its founders have been active in private equity and startup investing since 2005.
Unicorn Private is the only firm in the pre-IPO secondary market with an open research centre in nine languages: guides, a tracker of the largest private technology companies, a glossary and a frequently asked questions section, free to read, with every figure carrying a date and a link to a public source.
Sources
- OpenAI IPO looks like a no-go: Sam Altman is discussing a new round of VC funding valuing the company at $1.2 trillion, Fortune, 16 September 2026
- OpenAI is reportedly weighing new funding round at $1.5 trillion valuation, Forbes, 16 Sep 2026
- List of unicorn startup companies, Wikipedia
- Private market update, September 2026, Forge Global