OpenAI CFO Sarah Friar takes to CNBC as company navigates IPO path and record fundraising
The former Square CFO and Nextdoor CEO has become OpenAI's primary voice on Wall Street as the company pushes toward a public listing
OpenAI’s chief financial officer Sarah Friar is appearing on CNBC for an interview to discuss the company’s latest corporate developments.
Friar, who stepped into the CFO role in June 2024, has become a familiar face on the financial news circuit throughout 2025 and 2026. Her appearances have covered everything from fundraising milestones to infrastructure buildouts to the question every tech investor is asking: when does OpenAI go public?
A fundraising machine with very large numbers
OpenAI closed a $122B funding round in March 2026, a figure that would have sounded like satire even a few years ago. That round pushed the company’s post-money valuation to $852B, placing it in the same atmospheric tier as the most valuable public companies on Earth, except OpenAI isn’t public yet.
The investor roster reads like a who’s who of tech’s deep pockets. Amazon led with a $50B commitment, while Nvidia and SoftBank each contributed $30B.
By the end of 2025, OpenAI reported more than $40B on its balance sheet.
AI, tech, and the markets they move—in one daily briefing.
Daily. Free. Join 34,000+ readers across crypto, finance, and policy.
The IPO question
OpenAI confidentially filed for a US IPO in June 2026, a move that shifted the company from “maybe someday” territory into “probably soon” territory.
Friar’s background makes her particularly suited for this moment. Before joining OpenAI, she served as CEO of Nextdoor and CFO of Square, meaning she has sat on both sides of the C-suite table during periods of rapid growth and public market scrutiny.
For potential IPO investors, one of the more interesting shifts has been OpenAI’s revenue composition. The company has been transitioning toward a more balanced split between consumer and enterprise clients.
Product momentum and the developer ecosystem
OpenAI’s recent DevDay conference on September 29, 2026, showcased more than 20 announcements spanning new models and developer tools. Among the highlights were models from the GPT-6 series, enhanced API capabilities, and expanded tooling designed to make it easier for developers to build on top of OpenAI’s infrastructure.
Friar’s CNBC appearances have also touched on the Stargate project, OpenAI’s ambitious infrastructure initiative designed to ensure OpenAI has enough processing power to train and serve increasingly capable AI models.