"Enviable Compensation"... Company Generously Grants Employees an Average of $2.16 Million in Stock

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

It has been revealed that the average stock compensation per employee at OpenAI, the developer of ChatGPT, will reach 1.5 million dollars (approximately 2.16 billion won) in 2025.

The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on December 31 (local time) that, based on an analysis of financial documents provided by OpenAI to investors, this figure is at a record-high level, far surpassing other major technology companies.

Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI. Photo by Reuters and Yonhap News Agency

Even when adjusted for inflation, this amount is 34 times higher than the average stock compensation provided to employees in the year prior to IPO by 18 major technology companies that went public after 2000.

According to data analytics firm Equilar, OpenAI allocates 46.2% of its annual revenue to stock compensation, which is nearly half of its yearly earnings.

This exceeds not only Alphabet (14.6%) and Meta (5.9%), but also Palantir (32.6%), which has been criticized for excessively granting stock to employees and executives, thereby diluting the stakes of existing shareholders.

WSJ analyzed that the reason behind OpenAI's exceptionally high stock compensation is its intention to prevent talent outflow in order to maintain its leading position in the artificial intelligence (AI) race.

ChatGPT. Reuters Yonhap News

OpenAI recently abolished its rule requiring employees to work at least six months in order to receive stock compensation. The scale of stock compensation is expected to continue increasing, with projections indicating an annual rise of about 3 billion dollars (4.3 trillion won) each year through 2030.