OpenAI pays its 110 London staff an average of £2.3m each — 58 times the UK median wage

OpenAI paid each of its 110 London employees an average package worth £2,318,181 last year, made up of £794,000 in salary and £1.5m in share-based compensation. Figures filed at Companies House show total staff costs jumped from £60.7m in 2024 to £258m in 2025. The UK subsidiary also received £4.7m from British taxpayers through a government research and development tax credit scheme.

OpenAI UK outpaid even elite quant trading firm Jane Street, whose London staff averaged £1.4m last year.

The highest packages go to AI researchers working on cutting-edge models, with a typical employee taking home around £1,000 for every hour worked, counting both salary and equity before tax.

OpenAI's wider group is reportedly burning through cash at pace and has pushed its IPO back to next year, raising questions about whether the generous share awards will ever be readily convertible to cash.