OpenAI accelerates revenue to $40 billion: record growth rates amid personnel turbulence
OpenAI is demonstrating impressive financial momentum, doubling its annualized revenue run rate (ARR) to $40 billion in just a few months. This figure, achieved by August 2026, is more than double the projections for the end of 2025 and dramatically reshapes the landscape ahead of a potential IPO.
Such aggressive revenue growth is not just about numbers. It is a powerful signal for investors evaluating the company's prospects of going public. However, alongside these financial successes, OpenAI continues to experience significant turnover in its senior leadership, adding a note of uncertainty to the upcoming listing.
Three Drivers of Record Growth
An analysis of the revenue structure shows that three key areas are making the main contribution. First, the ChatGPT subscriber base continues to expand rapidly. Second, sales of developer tools, particularly Codex, are showing explosive growth. And third, the relatively young advertising business is beginning to yield tangible results.
Internal data confirms that July was a record month, generating more revenue than the entire second quarter. Notably, company president Greg Brockman reported revenue growth of more than 20% in July compared to June. This surge is largely driven by sound pricing strategy: the reduction in service prices in July not only failed to cause a drop in revenue but also attracted new corporate clients, stimulating demand for more expensive tiers.
Additional momentum was provided by AI agents, such as Codex for programmers and ChatGPT Work for office teams. These products not only solve specific business problems but also effectively push clients toward upgrading to premium plans. Management is already setting an ambitious goal: by the end of the year, half of all revenue should come from the corporate segment.
Executive Shuffle: A Shadow on the Eve of the IPO
Against the backdrop of financial triumph, the company is set to lose its Chief Revenue Officer, Denise Dressel, who has been at OpenAI for about eight months, in the coming weeks. Her departure is just part of a larger trend. Earlier, the company had already lost Chief Operating Officer Brad Lightcap and Fiidji Simo. In recent months, the leadership team has also lost the head of ethics, the head of the security division, and the chief strategy officer.
To stabilize the situation, Greg Brockman has taken on some management functions. Global sales will now be led by Dali Rajic, who previously served as president at the cybersecurity company Wiz. However, such personnel rotation on the eve of such a significant event as an IPO always raises questions among investors.
The company has already filed for an initial public offering in confidential mode and bought back $7 billion worth of shares from employees. Meanwhile, competitor Anthropic plans to go public as early as October with a valuation above $2 trillion, creating additional pressure.
My take: OpenAI's current revenue momentum is impressive and objectively strengthens the company's position ahead of the IPO. However, the constant turnover of key executives is a serious operational risk that the market may factor into its valuation. The question is whether financial growth will outweigh leadership instability. The coming months will show how much investors are willing to pay for ambition rather than stability.