The Payday From These 3 Companies Would Outstrip A Decade Of VC Returns

The Payday From These 3 Companies Would Outstrip A Decade Of VC ReturnsIllustration by Philip Smith for ForbesByIain Martin,Forbes Staff. I'm a senior editor at Forbes and cover tech and venture capital.Follow AuthorMay 14, 2026, 06:30am EDTThe initial public offerings for SpaceX, OpenAI and Anthropic are on track to outstrip the cash VCs raked in on every other startup exit since 2016—combined. @font-face{font-family: "Highlander"; src: url("https://i.forbesimg.com/assets/fonts/highlander/highlander-bold.woff2") format("woff2"); font-weight: 700; font-style: normal;} @font-face{font-family: "Merriweather"; src: url("https://i.forbesimg.com/assets/fonts/merriweather/merriweather-bold-webfont.woff2") format("woff2"), url("https://i.forbesimg.com/assets/fonts/merriweather/merriweather-bold-webfont.woff") format("woff"); font-weight: 700; font-style: normal;} @font-face{font-family: "Graphik"; src: url("https://i.forbesimg.com/assets/fonts/graphik/graphik-bold.woff2") format("woff2"), url("https://i.forbesimg.com/assets/fonts/graphik/graphik-bold.woff") format("woff"); font-weight: 700; font-style: normal;} @font-face{font-family: "Highlander"; src: url("https://i.forbesimg.com/assets/fonts/highlander/highlander-regular.woff2") format("woff2"); font-weight: 400; font-style: normal;} @font-face{font-family: "Merriweather"; src: url("https://i.forbesimg.com/assets/fonts/merriweather/merriweather-regular-webfont.woff2") format("woff2"), url("https://i.forbesimg.com/assets/fonts/merriweather/merriweather-regular-webfont.woff") format("woff"); font-weight: 400; font-style: normal;} @font-face{font-family: "Graphik"; src: url("https://i.forbesimg.com/assets/fonts/graphik/graphik-regular.woff2") format("woff2"), url("https://i.forbesimg.com/assets/fonts/graphik/graphik-regular.woff") format("woff"); font-weight: 400; font-style: normal;} #article-num-0 .color-accent{color: #333;} #article-num-0 .bg-accent{background-color: #333;} #article-num-0 .article-body blockquote:n...