Anthropic founders set to cash out substantial sums in anticipated IPO

Anthropic has detailed in its S-1 filing the planned share sales by its seven founders as the company approaches a potential $1.4 trillion valuation. Each founder intends to sell 3,378,378 shares. Based on the initial price range of $70 to $78 per share, the founders could realize between just over $236 million and under $264 million apiece, with the midrange price of $74 yielding nearly $250 million per person. The seven co-founders—Dario Amodei (CEO), Daniela Amodei, Tom Brown, Jack Clark, Jared Kaplan, Sam McCandlish, and Christopher Olah—will collectively own about 22% of the outstanding Class A shares post-sale. Furthermore, they retain control through Class F stock, giving them a collective 51.1% voting power. Board member Reed Hastings expressed interest in purchasing $300 million worth of shares, while Christopher Liddell plans to acquire $3 million. The company, which was formed in 2021 by former OpenAI colleagues following disagreements over AI development philosophy, has publicly emphasized its focus on AI safety. The founders’ stake in the company’s total equity is smaller due to nonvoting Class N shares held by entities like Amazon and Google.