Databricks wanted to raise $1B, investors wanted $15B. It settled on $5B at a $190B valuation.

Still, Databrick’s private fundraising, instead of going public, has become something of a meme among the Valley. When it announced this round last month, people joked online that it has raised so many, it was running out of letters of the alphabet. 

Ghodsi told CNBC that he still wants to take the company public one day. With such a giant roster of investors who will want to cash out one day, how can he promise anything else?

But today, he wants to focus on investing in AI, he said. Given the expenses involved in that, perhaps doing so out of the public eye is a wise idea.

Plus, when he can command an instant $15 billion of interest, and on his own terms, what’s the rush?