OpenAI is handing out bigger paychecks to workers than any tech startup ever

OpenAI is handing out bigger paychecks to its workers than any other technology startup has done before, based on financial records the company showed to investors.

The artificial intelligence company gives each worker around $1.5 million in stock compensation on average. This calculation covers all of its roughly 4,000 employees.

That number stands more than seven times higher than what Google paid its staff in 2003, right before the search giant filed papers to go public in 2004.

The $1.5 million figure also comes out to about 34 times what employees at 18 other major tech firms earned in the year before their public offerings, according to numbers analyzed by the Wall Street Journal using information from Equilar. The review looked at significant technology company debuts over the past 25 years.

All pay numbers have been updated to match 2025 dollar values after adjusting for inflation.

When asked about the compensation data, an OpenAI representative chose not to provide any statement.

Competing in the AI talent race

The company is giving out these large stock packages to hold onto its best researchers and engineers as it tries to stay ahead in the artificial intelligence competition. These equity payments are adding to the company’s already substantial operating losses and reducing the ownership stakes of current shareholders at a fast pace.

During this past summer, when competition between AI companies heated up, OpenAI and similar companies felt pressure to boost worker pay. This came after Meta Platforms head Mark Zuckerberg started making offers worth hundreds of millions of dollars to senior staff and researchers at competing firms. In some unusual situations, these packages reached $1 billion.

Zuckerberg’s hiring campaign brought more than 20 people over from OpenAI, including Shengjia Zhao, who helped create ChatGPT. Back in August, OpenAI responded by giving certain research and engineering team members a special one-time bonus. Some workers received payments worth millions of dollars, the Wall Street Journal reported earlier.

Soaring compensation costs through 2030

Financial information shared with investors during the summer months indicates that OpenAI’s stock-based pay was projected to grow by roughly $3 billion each year through 2030.

The company recently told its staff it would stop requiring employees to stay at OpenAI for at least six months before their equity starts to vest. This policy change might push compensation costs even higher.

When looking at compensation as a share of revenue, OpenAI was expected to hit 46% in 2025. Among the 18 companies examined, only Rivian had a higher percentage, though that electric vehicle maker wasn’t bringing in revenue the year before going public.

Palantir’s stock-based pay equaled 33% of revenue before its 2020 public offering. Google’s stood at 15%, while Facebook’s was just 6%, the analysis found.

Meanwhile, SoftBank has completed its massive $40 billion investment in OpenAI as Cryptopolitan reported. The Japanese investment company made a final payment of approximately $22 billion, CNBC reported. Some sources suggest the last installment might have been closer to $22.5 billion.

SoftBank now owns more than 10% of the Sam Altman-led AI company. The final transfer happened last week, wrapping up a deal that started taking shape in early 2024. SoftBank first put $8 billion directly into the ChatGPT maker, then brought other investors together for an additional $10 billion.

For context, stock-based compensation averaged about 6% of revenue among the tech companies studied in the year before they went public, based on Equilar data.

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