OpenAI accelerates revenue to $40 billion amid personnel turbulence ahead of IPO
OpenAI's annualized revenue run rate has reached an impressive $40 billion, doubling the figures from late 2025. However, the rapid financial ascent is overshadowed by a series of resignations among the company's top executives.
This powerful surge significantly strengthens the company's position ahead of its stock market debut, but it simultaneously raises tough questions for investors about the stability of the management team.
What is fueling the explosive growth
Three areas have become key drivers. The number of ChatGPT subscribers continues to grow, sales of developer tools such as Codex are increasing rapidly, and the young advertising business is already generating tangible revenue.
Company President Greg Brockman informed employees that revenue in July grew by more than 20% compared to June. That month turned out to be a record, bringing in more funds than the entire second quarter. The new pricing policy also played a role: lowering service costs for corporate clients attracted new customers, and the expected downturn did not occur.
AI agents provided additional momentum. Codex helps programmers, while ChatGPT Work targets office teams. Both products are successfully pushing clients to upgrade to more expensive plans. Previously, CFO Sarah Friar projected revenue of over $20 billion by the end of 2025, but management now aims to generate half of its revenue from corporate clients by the end of the current year.
Personnel changes and IPO preparation
In the coming weeks, Chief Revenue Officer Denise Dressel, who has been with the company for about eight months, is leaving. Global sales will be led by Dali Rajic, who previously served as president at cybersecurity company Wiz. Dressel's departure follows the resignation of Brad Lightcap, part of whose responsibilities were planned to be transferred to her. A month ago, Fiji Simo also stepped down for health reasons.
Executives at OpenAI have been changing for a long time. Over the past few months, the company has also lost its head of ethics, the head of the safety division, and the former director of strategic development. Greg Brockman has taken on part of the management tasks to stabilize the organization's operations.
Meanwhile, stock market preparation is in full swing. OpenAI has filed for an initial public offering in confidential mode and recently bought back $7 billion worth of shares from employees using its own funds.
My take: Revenue growth to $40 billion is undoubtedly a powerful signal for the market, but the string of top executive resignations ahead of the IPO is a worrying sign. Investors should closely watch whether financial momentum will outweigh personnel instability. Competitor Anthropic, which plans to go public as early as October with a valuation of over $2 trillion, only adds intrigue to this race.