Dali Rajic Hired as New CRO (August 13)

OpenAI named Dali Rajic, previously president and COO of Alphabet-owned cybersecurity firm Wiz, as its new chief revenue officer, effective immediately . Rajic will lead OpenAI’s global revenue organization at a critical juncture as the company prepares for its IPO . President Greg Brockman announced the hire in an internal blog post .

These departures are part of a broader leadership shake-up that has seen at least 12 senior executives leave OpenAI in 2026 .

IPO Timeline Pushed to 2027

OpenAI confidentially filed an S-1 with the SEC in June 2026 , but since then the company has leaned toward delaying its public debut to 2027 .

Key factors behind the delay:

• CEO Sam Altman insists on a $1 trillion valuation, treating anything lower as a "non-starter" .
• Volatile public market conditions, including a rocky post-IPO performance from SpaceX, have made a late-2026 listing less attractive .
• The company’s private valuation of $852 billion (set during its $122 billion March 2026 funding round) still falls short of Altman’s $1 trillion threshold .

TradingKey reported on August 14 that the IPO window remains "closed" and that the company’s timeline has effectively shifted to 2027 . The advisory team presented Altman with a stark choice: wait until 2027 for the $1 trillion target, or lower the valuation to list earlier — he chose to wait .

Broader Context

In early August 2026, OpenAI completed a $7 billion employee share buyback using its own cash rather than outside investors, keeping its $852 billion valuation benchmark intact and leaving no new names on its cap table . SoftBank, OpenAI’s largest backer, arranged an unsecured $40 billion bridge loan maturing in March 2027, designed to bridge the company to its liquidity event .

These developments — rapid revenue growth, a historic revenue mix shift, executive turnover, and a delayed IPO — paint a picture of a company racing to scale commercially while navigating internal transition and external market pressures.

Dali Rajic Hired as New CRO (August 13)

OpenAI named Dali Rajic, previously president and COO of Alphabet-owned cybersecurity firm Wiz, as its new chief revenue officer, effective immediately . Rajic will lead OpenAI’s global revenue organization at a critical juncture as the company prepares for its IPO . President Greg Brockman announced the hire in an internal blog post .

These departures are part of a broader leadership shake-up that has seen at least 12 senior executives leave OpenAI in 2026 .

IPO Timeline Pushed to 2027

OpenAI confidentially filed an S-1 with the SEC in June 2026 , but since then the company has leaned toward delaying its public debut to 2027 .

Key factors behind the delay:

• CEO Sam Altman insists on a $1 trillion valuation, treating anything lower as a "non-starter" .
• Volatile public market conditions, including a rocky post-IPO performance from SpaceX, have made a late-2026 listing less attractive .
• The company’s private valuation of $852 billion (set during its $122 billion March 2026 funding round) still falls short of Altman’s $1 trillion threshold .

TradingKey reported on August 14 that the IPO window remains "closed" and that the company’s timeline has effectively shifted to 2027 . The advisory team presented Altman with a stark choice: wait until 2027 for the $1 trillion target, or lower the valuation to list earlier — he chose to wait .

Broader Context

In early August 2026, OpenAI completed a $7 billion employee share buyback using its own cash rather than outside investors, keeping its $852 billion valuation benchmark intact and leaving no new names on its cap table . SoftBank, OpenAI’s largest backer, arranged an unsecured $40 billion bridge loan maturing in March 2027, designed to bridge the company to its liquidity event .

These developments — rapid revenue growth, a historic revenue mix shift, executive turnover, and a delayed IPO — paint a picture of a company racing to scale commercially while navigating internal transition and external market pressures.