OpenAI CFO says Democratic midterm wave didn’t change IPO plans

Sarah Friar told CNBC the company is still targeting a 2027 listing, backed by a funding round at a $1.25 trillion pre-money valuation Washington just had a political shake-up. OpenAI’s IPO calendar, apparently, did not get the memo. OpenAI CFO Sarah Friar said the Democratic wave in the 2026 US midterm elections did not significantly change the company’s plans to go public. In a CNBC interview on November 6, 2026, she indicated that the company’s path toward a 2027 listing remains intact, even as the political map shifted under its feet. That matters because OpenAI is not a normal IPO candidate. It is raising money at a pre-money valuation of $1.25 trillion, a figure that makes most tech debuts look like a lemonade stand opening a second location. The numbers behind the confidence The company has already raised $11 billion in an ongoing funding round. That round sets OpenAI’s pre-money valuation at $1.25 trillion, with the possibility of an additional $9 billion still on the table. Growth has been the other pillar. OpenAI’s annualized revenue rose 70%, and enterprise sales doubled in the third quarter of 2026. The IPO groundwork is already laid. OpenAI filed its IPO prospectus wit...