OpenAI is accelerating its pace: revenue has reached $40 billion, but talent losses cast a shadow over the IPO.
OpenAI is demonstrating impressive financial momentum: the company's annual recurring revenue (ARR) has reached $40 billion. This is double the forecasts voiced at the end of 2025 and significantly strengthens the position of those advocating for a stock market listing. However, amid these successes, the company is losing key executives, adding uncertainty ahead of a potential IPO.
What is fueling the explosive revenue growth
The main drivers of this growth are three areas. First, the base of ChatGPT subscribers continues to expand. Second, sales of developer tools focused on code work are growing rapidly. Third, a relatively young advertising business is making a notable contribution, already generating substantial cash flow.
Company President Greg Brockman told employees that revenue in July grew by more than 20% compared to June. Moreover, that month brought in more revenue than the entire second quarter. The new pricing policy also played a role: lowering service costs for clients, made possible by cost optimization, attracted new corporate customers. The expected drop in revenue did not occur—on the contrary, demand only accelerated.
AI agents provided additional momentum. Products like Codex, which helps programmers, and ChatGPT Work, aimed at office teams, are actively pushing users to upgrade to more expensive plans. CFO Sarah Friar previously forecast revenue above $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, the company will be leaving Chief Revenue Officer Denise Dressel, who joined from Slack in December 2025 and worked at OpenAI for about eight months. Global sales will be led by Dali Rajic, who previously served as president and chief operating officer of cybersecurity company Wiz.
This is not the first loss in leadership. Earlier, the company was left by Brad Lightcap, part of whose responsibilities were planned to be transferred to Dressel. A month ago, Fiji Simo also left for health reasons. Overall, in recent months, OpenAI has also lost its head of ethics, the head of the security division, and the former director of strategic development. Greg Brockman has taken on some management functions to stabilize the situation.
Meanwhile, preparation for the stock exchange is in full swing. OpenAI has filed for an initial public offering in confidential mode and recently bought back shares from employees worth $7 billion from its own funds.
My view: Revenue growth to $40 billion is undoubtedly a powerful signal for the market. But the rotation of top management at a critical moment before the IPO is a warning sign. Investors should closely watch whether the new commercial director can not only maintain the pace but also retain key clients amid intensifying competition from Anthropic, which is also preparing for a stock market listing. OpenAI's valuation will largely depend on which outweighs the other: impressive financial metrics or personnel instability.