OpenAI CFO Sarah Friar takes to CNBC as company navigates IPO path and record fundraising

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. 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...