Databricks Raises $5B at $190B Valuation

Databricks CEO Ali Ghodsi only wanted to raise $1 billion, but a leaked report mid-conference triggered a flood of investor interest totaling $15 billion. To avoid alienating backers, the AI data company issued more stock, ultimately closing a $5 billion round led by Coatue, Blackstone, and others at a $190 billion valuation. The appetite makes sense: Databricks boasts $7 billion in annualized revenue growing at 80%, is cash-flow positive, and is aggressively expanding through AI research, cloud commitments, and acquisitions. An IPO remains a future goal, but for now Ghodsi is focused on investing in AI away from public market scrutiny.