OpenAI is approaching an IPO with an annual revenue run rate of $40 billion, but is losing key executives.
OpenAI has reached a new impressive milestone: the company's annual recurring revenue (ARR) has exceeded $40 billion. This is double the figure management had projected for the end of 2025, and a powerful signal for investors ahead of a potential initial public offering (IPO).
Such aggressive growth significantly strengthens the company's position as it prepares to go public. However, alongside these financial successes, a troubling trend is emerging at OpenAI — a wave of resignations among senior leadership, adding uncertainty to the process of preparing for the stock listing.
What is fueling the explosive revenue growth
Three areas have been the key drivers of this growth. First, the base of ChatGPT subscribers continues to expand. Second, sales of tools for developers working with code are growing rapidly. Third, a relatively new advertising model has begun to make a tangible contribution.
Company President Greg Brockman told employees that revenue in July alone grew by more than 20% compared to June. This confirms previously disclosed internal data: July brought the company more revenue than the entire second quarter.
An adjusted pricing strategy also played a role. In July, OpenAI lowered the cost of some services, making products more accessible to corporate clients. Contrary to concerns, this did not lead to a decline in revenue but instead attracted new customers.
AI agents — specialized systems for task automation — provided an additional boost. Codex, which helps programmers, and ChatGPT Work, aimed at office teams, are actively pushing clients to upgrade to more expensive plans.
Chief Financial Officer Sarah Friar had previously projected revenue exceeding $20 billion by the end of 2025. Now, management is setting a goal to derive half of its revenue from corporate clients by the end of the current year.
Personnel turbulence ahead of the IPO
Despite the brilliant financial results, Chief Revenue Officer Denise Dresser, who has been at OpenAI for about eight months, will leave the company in the coming weeks. Global sales will be led by Dali Rajic, who previously served as president and chief operating officer at the cybersecurity company Wiz.
This is just the latest in a series of resignations. Earlier, Chief Operating Officer Brad Lightcap left the company, and Fidji Simo departed for health reasons. Over the past few months, OpenAI has also lost its head of ethics, its head of the safety division, and its chief strategy officer.
Meanwhile, preparations for the stock exchange are in full swing. The company has already filed for an IPO in confidential mode and recently bought back $7 billion worth of shares from employees using its own funds.
Competitor Anthropic plans to go public as early as October with a valuation exceeding $2 trillion. OpenAI's stock pricing will largely depend on whether the impressive revenue growth can outweigh the personnel losses.
My view: Doubling ARR to $40 billion is an undoubted success, demonstrating enormous market demand for AI technologies. However, the personnel shuffle ahead of the IPO is a troubling signal. Investors always assess management stability, and if the turnover continues, it could become a significant discount on the stock price, despite the brilliant financial results.