OpenAI's average stock compensation per employee reaches $1.5 million, setting a record for tech startups

BlockBeats News, December 31, according to WSJ, financial data shows that OpenAI is paying its employees some of the highest compensation among tech startups in recent years, with the company’s approximately 4,000 employees receiving an average stock compensation of about $1.5 million per person.

WSJ’s analysis of Equilar data shows that in the year before the IPOs of major tech companies over the past 25 years, OpenAI’s compensation was about 34 times that of the other 18 companies. Financial data disclosed to investors this summer indicates that OpenAI’s stock compensation is expected to increase by about $3 billion annually before 2030. The company also recently informed employees that it will remove a policy requiring employees to work at OpenAI for at least six months before receiving equity, which could lead to further increases in compensation.

The analysis shows that OpenAI’s compensation will account for 46% of its revenue in 2025, second only to Rivian among the companies analyzed in the report (Rivian generated no revenue in the year before its IPO). By comparison, Palantir’s stock compensation accounted for 33% of revenue in the year before its 2020 IPO, Google’s was 15%, and Facebook’s was 6%. (Golden Ten Data)