OpenAI accelerates revenue to $40 billion amid personnel turbulence ahead of IPO
OpenAI is demonstrating impressive financial momentum, reaching an annual revenue run rate of $40 billion. This figure doubles the results recorded at the end of 2025 and significantly strengthens the company's position ahead of its anticipated initial public offering.
Such aggressive growth is no coincidence, but rather the result of coordinated efforts across several key areas. First and foremost, the ChatGPT subscriber base continues to expand. In parallel, sales of developer tools are showing explosive growth, while the relatively young advertising business is already beginning to make a tangible contribution to the overall bottom line.
What is driving demand
According to my data, revenue in July grew by more than 20% compared to June. President Greg Brockman confirmed to the team that the past month brought in more revenue than the entire second quarter. Notably, this surge occurred against the backdrop of price cuts for enterprise clients. Instead of the expected decline in revenue, the cheaper products attracted new large customers, ultimately producing the opposite effect.
AI agents provided an additional boost. Specialized solutions like Codex for programmers and ChatGPT Work for office teams not only automate routine tasks but also actively push users toward more expensive pricing tiers. This is a classic upselling strategy that is working flawlessly under current conditions.
Chief Financial Officer Sarah Friar had previously projected revenue exceeding $20 billion by the end of 2025. Now, management is setting a more ambitious goal—to derive half of all revenue from enterprise clients by the end of this year.
Leadership turbulence
However, not everything is running smoothly. Amid the financial successes, Chief Revenue Officer Denise Dresser is set to leave the company in the coming weeks, having spent about eight months at OpenAI after moving over from Slack. Her departure is just the tip of the iceberg. Earlier, the company had already lost its Chief Operating Officer Brad Lightcap, the head of ethics, the head of the safety division, and the Chief Strategy Officer.
Global sales will now be led by Dali Rajic, who previously served as president of cybersecurity company Wiz. Brockman himself has taken on some management responsibilities in an attempt to stabilize the situation.
Preparation for the IPO is in full swing: the filing has been submitted in confidential mode, and the company has already bought back $7 billion worth of shares from employees using its own funds. Meanwhile, competitor Anthropic plans to go public as early as October with a valuation exceeding $2 trillion.
My take: The current revenue momentum is impressive, but the leadership shuffle in key commercial divisions is a worrying signal for investors. The market will be closely watching whether financial growth outweighs the reputational risks tied to management instability. In the short term, it is this balance that will determine investor appetite for OpenAI's shares.