OpenAI to Grant $1.5 Million in Stock Compensation Per Employee
Unprecedented Among Big Tech Firms
Nearly Half of Annual Revenue Spent on Stock Awards
The average stock compensation per employee at OpenAI, the developer of ChatGPT, is expected to reach 1.5 million dollars (approximately 2.16 billion won) in 2025.
The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on December 31 (local time) that, according to an analysis of financial documents provided by OpenAI to investors, this figure represents an all-time high that far surpasses other major technology companies.
Even when adjusted for inflation, this amount is 34 times higher than the average stock compensation offered to employees in the year before an initial public offering (IPO) by 18 major tech companies that went public after 2000.
According to data analytics firm Equilar, OpenAI is allocating 46.2% of its annual revenue to stock compensation, which is nearly half of its total revenue.
This surpasses not only Alphabet (14.6%) and Meta (5.9%), but also Palantir (32.6%), which has faced criticism for excessively granting stock to employees and executives, thereby diluting existing shareholders' equity.
WSJ analyzed that the reason behind OpenAI's high level of stock compensation is to prevent talent outflow and maintain its leading position in the artificial intelligence (AI) race.
OpenAI recently abolished a rule requiring employees to work for at least six months to receive stock compensation. The scale of stock compensation is expected to continue increasing, with projections that it will rise by approximately 3 billion dollars (4.3 trillion won) annually through 2030.
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