The New York Times, citing three people directly involved in OpenAI's IPO discussions, reported that the company is leaning toward postponing its initial public offering to 2027. Investment banks advising on the listing warned that recent volatility in tech stocks and post-IPO price swings at SpaceX could dampen retail investors' enthusiasm for OpenAI.
OpenAI confirmed on June 9 that it had confidentially filed for an IPO with the SEC, but internal views on the timing are split.
CEO Demands $1 Trillion, CFO Hits Brakes
CEO Sam Altman has told advisors including bankers and lawyers that the target valuation must be $1 trillion. That figure is not arbitrary — OpenAI's last private fundraising round in March 2026 valued it at $852 billion, less than 20% shy of the trillion-dollar mark. Altman has also told employees publicly that he expects the company to go public within the next year.
CFO Sarah Friar holds a different view. She reportedly prefers waiting until 2027, citing the company's $60 billion commitment to data center construction. That capital expenditure must be secured first before facing institutional due diligence in public markets. Their disagreement reflects OpenAI's dual identity: a high-growth tech startup and a capital-intensive enterprise burning billions annually.
Why 2027? Market and Financial Pressures
On the market side, this year is unfavorable. Tech stocks are under pressure from interest rates and geopolitical tensions, and SpaceX's record IPO was followed by notable price swings — a cautionary tale for high-valuation companies entering public markets.
Financially, the pressure is more direct. OpenAI's GAAP loss for 2026 is estimated between $25 billion and $26 billion, with internal projections expecting profitability no earlier than around 2030. In contrast, the company projects annualized recurring revenue of $42 billion by 2027, which if achieved would become the key lever to convince institutional investors of its trillion-dollar valuation.
The $60 billion data center commitment creates a complex financial equation in the current interest rate environment. Those capital expenditures span multiple years, with conservative return periods exceeding five years. High U.S. long-term bond yields mean every infrastructure financing dollar carries higher implicit costs. If the IPO timing coincides with peak data center completion, the market would see simultaneous cash burn acceleration and debt accumulation — toxic for valuation anchoring. Waiting until 2027 allows construction progress to materialize and cash flow visibility to improve, giving underwriters more pricing flexibility.
Additionally, OpenAI faces multiple regulatory and legal fronts: a U.S. Congressional investigation into potential conflicts of interest between Altman's personal investments and company decisions, and SEC scrutiny of governance structure after OpenAI's recent conversion from a nonprofit to a public benefit corporation, raising shareholder rights concerns.