Artificial intelligence companies like OpenAI and Anthropic sit at the center of one of the largest technology shifts in decades. With rapid growth, massive investment, and global attention on the industry, speculation about future IPOs has become increasingly common.
For employees at these companies, that possibility can feel exciting. An IPO can turn years of equity compensation into something tangible.
At the same time, an IPO introduces a set of financial decisions that many employees have never faced before. Stock options, RSUs, taxes, and liquidity events suddenly move from background details to meaningful parts of your financial life.
Over the years, we have worked with many tech employees navigating this moment. Some approach it with a clear plan and use the liquidity event to build long-term financial stability. Others discover too late that they misunderstood how their equity works or how taxes apply.
If you work at a company that may eventually go public, here are several things worth thinking about in our OpenAI or Anthropic pre-IPO plan before it actually happens.
AI Companies May Not Follow A Traditional IPO Path
Companies like OpenAI and Anthropic are not structured exactly like traditional venture-backed startups.
OpenAI operates under a unique structure where a nonprofit organization oversees a capped profit subsidiary. Anthropic has raised significant funding from strategic partners such as Amazon and Google, along with large cloud infrastructure commitments tied to those investments.
Both companies have also reached extraordinarily high valuations while still private, which is one reason many observers believe public listings may eventually follow.
At the same time, companies of this scale sometimes explore different approaches to public markets. Investment banks may consider structures such as direct listings, staged liquidity programs, or secondary share sales for employees before a traditional IPO occurs.
For employees, the key takeaway is that liquidity may arrive in several stages. Understanding how your equity works before those events occur can make it much easier to evaluate decisions around taxes, exercises, and diversification.
Start By Understanding What You Actually Own
Many employees receive equity as part of their compensation, but the details are easy to overlook while the company is still private.
When an IPO becomes possible, those details start to matter.
Most tech employees hold some combination of stock options or restricted stock units. Each type of equity works differently and has different tax implications.
Incentive Stock Options, often called ISOs, allow you to purchase shares at a fixed price. If handled correctly, they can qualify for favorable tax treatment and eventually be taxed at long-term capital gains rates.
The complication is timing. Exercising ISOs can trigger the Alternative Minimum Tax. That means some employees face a tax bill even if they have not sold any shares yet.
Non-Qualified Stock Options, or NSOs, are simpler but less tax-efficient. When you exercise them, the difference between the strike price and the current value of the shares is treated as ordinary income.
Restricted Stock Units, or RSUs, are the most straightforward form of equity. Once vesting conditions are met, they convert into shares. In many late-stage companies, RSUs have a double trigger structure. They vest over time but only convert into shares after a liquidity event such as an IPO.
When that conversion happens, the value of the shares is usually taxed as ordinary income.
In companies experiencing rapid valuation growth, like many leading AI firms today, the gap between an option’s strike price and the company’s most recent valuation can expand quickly. When that spread becomes large, exercising options later in the company’s life cycle can create much larger tax exposure than employees initially expected. This is one reason many employees begin reviewing their equity strategy well before a potential IPO window appears.
An IPO Does Not Mean Immediate Liquidity
When people hear that a company is going public, the natural assumption is that employees will immediately be able to sell their shares.
In reality, that rarely happens. Most IPOs include a lockup period that restricts insiders and employees from selling shares for a period of time. This lockup period often lasts around six months.
During that time, employees can see the market price of the stock every day, but they are not able to sell.
This creates a situation where the value of your equity may fluctuate significantly before you have the ability to make any decisions about it.
By the time the lockup expires, employees often find themselves making several financial decisions at once. They are thinking about taxes, diversification, and how much exposure they want to maintain to their company stock.
Planning ahead can make that moment much easier to navigate.
Taxes Often Surprise Employees
Taxes are one of the most overlooked aspects of equity compensation until a liquidity event is close.
Different events trigger different types of taxes.
- Exercising stock options may create ordinary income.
- RSU vesting may generate taxable income.
- Selling shares can trigger capital gains taxes.
What catches many employees off guard is that these tax events can occur before they actually sell any shares.
For example, exercising options near the IPO price can create a large taxable spread. RSUs converting into shares can generate ordinary income even if you decide to hold the stock.
None of this is unusual. It is simply how equity compensation interacts with the tax system. But it is the reason many employees start planning well before the IPO window opens.
Your Net Worth May Suddenly Become Concentrated
An IPO can dramatically change a personal balance sheet.
Employees who joined early in a company’s growth may suddenly find that a large portion of their net worth is tied to a single stock. This dynamic can be even more pronounced in fast-growing AI companies where valuations have increased rapidly in recent years.
However, public markets can be volatile. Even very successful companies can experience significant swings in their stock price, particularly in the years immediately following an IPO.
For many employees, the larger financial question becomes how much of their long-term wealth should remain tied to their employer.
Many financial plans involve gradually reducing concentrated positions and reinvesting into a diversified portfolio over time.
The Lockup Expiration Often Becomes The First Major Decision
For many employees, the lockup expiration becomes the first moment when equity decisions turn into real financial choices.
By that time, you may have vested shares, exercised options, and accumulated a meaningful position in company stock.
The next question becomes what role the stock should play in your overall financial plan.
Some employees sell a portion to reduce concentration risk. Others hold a larger position because they remain confident in the company’s long-term trajectory.
There is no universal answer. What matters most is that the decision is intentional rather than reactive.
Thinking through that strategy ahead of time can make the lockup expiration far less stressful.
Plan Ahead With KB Financial Advisors
Working at companies like OpenAI or Anthropic places employees at the center of an extraordinary moment in technology. If those companies eventually move toward public markets, the financial impact for employees could be significant.
But an IPO is not simply a payday. It is a complex financial event that introduces taxes, liquidity restrictions, and important investment decisions.
KB Financial Advisors works specifically with tech professionals and founders who receive equity compensation. Many of the conversations we have begin before a liquidity event, when employees want clarity around option exercises, tax exposure, and diversification strategies.
If you work at a fast-growing AI company such as OpenAI, Anthropic, or another company building in this space, understanding how your stock options or RSUs fit into your long-term financial plan can make a big difference before a liquidity event occurs.
We invite you to schedule a conversation with our team.
Preparing ahead of time allows you to approach a potential IPO thoughtfully rather than making decisions under pressure.
Common Questions
Are OpenAI and Anthropic going to IPO?
Both companies have reached extraordinary private valuations and continue raising significant funding, which often precedes public listings. However, the structures and timelines vary. OpenAI operates under a unique nonprofit/capped-profit structure, and Anthropic has deep ties to strategic partners like Amazon and Google. Liquidity may arrive through staged secondary share sales, direct listings, or traditional IPOs.
Should you exercise your OpenAI or Anthropic stock options before an IPO?
It depends on your strike price, current 409A valuation, cash reserves, AMT exposure, and the probability of liquidity. Exercising early can lock in lower AMT cost and start QSBS or long-term capital gains holding periods, but it commits real cash on shares that may stay illiquid longer than expected.
What is different about equity compensation at AI companies like OpenAI and Anthropic?
AI companies often have unusual structures. OpenAI’s profit participation units (PPUs) are not traditional equity. Anthropic offers more standard RSUs and options but with significant cloud commitments tied to its investors. These structures affect how and when equity converts to value, and what tax treatment applies.
How does the AMT (Alternative Minimum Tax) affect ISO exercises at high-valuation AI companies?
When you exercise ISOs and hold the shares, the bargain element (the gap between strike price and current 409A) is an AMT preference item. At high-valuation AI companies, this gap is large, which can trigger a significant AMT bill the year of exercise, even though no shares have been sold for cash.
What should AI company employees do before a possible IPO?
Understand exactly what you own (RSUs, options, PPUs), model the tax impact of exercising at different points, build a cash reserve for AMT and exercise costs, plan for staged liquidity events rather than a single IPO, and engage an advisor familiar with the specific company’s equity structure.
