alt Hacker NewsI think they would have kept it under 500 if they had to. I doubt this is the determining factor. In fact a lot more than 2k investors have exposure through SPVs or holding companies on top of holding companies. So no, I don't think this was the determining factor that allowed OpenAI to stay private longer.
I disagree. Not counting employees as shareholders was the main kicker. There was a reason Google and Meta went public so early in their growth story.