Who owns OpenAI? No single owner. The nonprofit OpenAI Foundation holds control, and economic ownership is spread out: when the recapitalization closed in October 2025, the Foundation held 26% and Microsoft about 27%, with the remaining 47% held by current and former employees and investors. On October 1, 2026, SoftBank disclosed its own stake of about 13%. CEO Sam Altman holds no direct stake.
This page is informational only and takes no investment view on any stock. For the big picture, see What kind of company is OpenAI.
Ownership Stakes at a Glance
| Shareholder | Stake | Date and source |
|---|---|---|
| OpenAI Foundation (nonprofit) | 26%, plus a warrant | 2025-10-28, at the recapitalization, per OpenAI |
| Microsoft | About 27% | 2025-10-28, per OpenAI |
| Current and former employees and investors | 47% | 2025-10-28, per OpenAI |
| SoftBank | About 13% ($64.6 billion invested in total) | 2026-10-01, per SoftBank |
| Amazon | Not disclosed ($50 billion investment fully funded) | Amazon SEC filing, July 2026 |
| NVIDIA | Not disclosed ($30 billion invested) | March 2026 round |
| a16z, D. E. Shaw, MGX, TPG, Thrive, and others | Not disclosed |
These percentages come from different dates, so you can’t add them up. After the new capital in the March 2026 round, OpenAI did not publish an updated full cap table; the 2025 figures are only a snapshot of the recapitalization.
Nonprofit Control, PBC Runs the Business
Control and ownership are two different things. The Foundation appoints every director of OpenAI Group PBC (a for-profit public benefit corporation) and can replace them at any time. According to NBC News in October 2025, Microsoft and the other investors have no board seats.
This two-layer design lets OpenAI raise huge sums and sign large compute contracts while keeping a nonprofit governance layer. When an IPO or a safety dispute comes up, what matters is how the Foundation uses its governance rights, not who owns the most.
Key Funding Rounds
| Date | Amount and valuation | Main investors | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | $1 billion | Microsoft | Investment tied to an Azure supercomputing partnership |
| 2023 | Multiyear, multibillion-dollar partnership | Microsoft | According to Microsoft’s filings, the total commitment is $13 billion |
| 2024 | $6.6 billion at a $157 billion post-money valuation | Not individually listed | Official announcement |
| 2025 | $40 billion at a $300 billion post-money valuation | SoftBank | OpenAI names the SoftBank partnership |
| March 2026 | About $122 billion in committed capital at about $852 billion post-money | Amazon, NVIDIA, SoftBank, Microsoft; co-led by SoftBank, a16z, and others | SoftBank’s $30 billion follow-on investment was fully funded on October 1, 2026 |
| October 2026 (in talks) | About $30 billion at a valuation above $1.4 trillion | Existing shareholders including SoftBank and MGX in talks | According to Reuters on October 19; not completed as of October 20; if completed, it will dilute the stakes above |
More Than Money: Cloud, Chips, and Data Centers
In its March 2026 funding announcement, OpenAI sorted its partners into three layers. Cloud: Microsoft, Oracle, AWS, CoreWeave, and Google Cloud. Chips: NVIDIA, AMD, AWS Trainium, Cerebras, and its own chip work with Broadcom. Data centers: Oracle, SBE, and SoftBank.
That is why investors and suppliers overlap so much. Microsoft is the long-running cloud partner. NVIDIA both sells chips and invests. Amazon supplies compute through AWS and is also a major 2026 investor. SoftBank puts in money and takes part in the Stargate data centers. The upside: money, GPUs, and cloud capacity can be locked in together. The cost: a shareholder may also be a seller, so partnership and bargaining are always mixed.
Penchan’s summary
OpenAI comes down to a triangle: the Foundation runs governance, investors share the economic interests, and partners supply compute. The three sides depend on each other and also hold each other in check.
Stakes change with every funding round, so check the date before trusting any percentage; for governance, look at how the Foundation appoints the board. This article is informational only and is not investment advice.
Further reading: What kind of company is OpenAI, OpenAI valuation and IPO, OpenAI’s Stargate compute strategy.