OpenAI Financial Leak: Annual Loss Surges 8x, Employees Cash Out $14 Billion

According to leaked audit reports, OpenAI's 2025 revenue was $13.07 billion, expenses $34 billion, and net loss $38.5 billion—nearly 8 times the 2024 loss. The surge partly stems from a $41.55 billion fair value change loss due to the nonprofit-to-profit restructuring. R&D spending hit $19.18 billion, exceeding total revenue. OpenAI paid Microsoft $17.2 billion, while Microsoft paid only $303 million. In Q1 2026, OpenAI had $5.7 billion in revenue, burned $3.7 billion, with cash consumption exceeding half of revenue. Cash on hand is $73 billion, but internal forecasts predict $25 billion burn in 2026 and $57 billion in 2027.

Employee Cash-Outs and Talent Competition

According to The Information, over the past five years, OpenAI and Anthropic employees have cashed out a combined ~$14 billion through internal share sales. In October 2025, OpenAI allowed 600 employees to sell shares worth $6.6 billion, averaging $11 million per person, with 75 individuals cashing out the maximum of $30 million each (~200 million RMB). OpenAI's average equity compensation per employee is $1.5 million, 7 times that of Google before its IPO. Some Anthropic employees chose not to sell, betting on growth; the company's valuation subsequently rose from $350 billion to $965 billion, tripling the paper wealth of those who held.

Industry Comparison and IPO Prospects

Anthropic's 2025 revenue was ~$4.5 billion, but Q1 2026 revenue hit $4.8 billion, growing faster than OpenAI. It expects burn rate to drop to 9% in 2027 and break even in 2028, while OpenAI is not expected to turn positive until 2030. Microsoft invested $5 billion in Anthropic last year and committed to purchasing at least $30 billion in AI computing power. Both companies have confidentially filed for IPOs, with valuations of $850 billion for OpenAI and $965 billion for Anthropic. Analysts believe losses won't hinder IPOs; the key is future margin improvement.