Anthropic’s expected IPO could generate multibillion-dollar paper gains for a wide range of backers, from venture firms and sovereign wealth funds to individual investors, according to Bloomberg’s Oct. 22 report citing people familiar with the matter. Anthropic and most of the investors named in the report declined to comment.
Bloomberg had reported earlier this month that Anthropic could begin its IPO roadshow as soon as the week of Nov. 9 and go public by year-end. On that timeline, the stock could start trading before Thanksgiving on Nov. 26. A public S-1 filing is expected soon, though as of early Oct. 23 Eastern Time, no public version had appeared in the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission database.
Reuters reported on Oct. 15, citing four people familiar with the matter, that some current and prospective investors had discussed an IPO valuation of about $1.5 trillion. Earlier market expectations had been closer to $2 trillion. Bloomberg then reported on Oct. 20 that investors saw a reasonable valuation range of $1.8 trillion to $2 trillion. A $1.5 trillion valuation would still be about 55% above Anthropic’s $965 billion post-money valuation from its May Series H financing.
The stake values below were calculated by Bloomberg using the $965 billion valuation. The source material also provided proportional conversions based on a $1.5 trillion valuation, or roughly 1.55 times Bloomberg’s figures. Those conversions do not account for dilution from new shares issued in the IPO, and they reflect paper value only, not realized proceeds.
Early venture investors that entered in 2023
Spark Capital: $75 million invested, stake now worth about $7 billion
Spark Capital invested $75 million in Anthropic in 2023, the largest investment in the firm’s history. That round valued Anthropic at about $5 billion. Spark is also the only venture firm currently known to hold a seat on Anthropic’s board.
Bloomberg, citing people familiar with the matter, said the position is now worth about $7 billion at the current benchmark valuation, a paper gain of roughly 93 times. At a $1.5 trillion valuation, the stake would be worth about $10.9 billion.
Sound Ventures: $35 million first, then another $400 million
Sound Ventures was founded by talent manager Guy Oseary and actor Ashton Kutcher. Kutcher stepped down earlier this year, and the firm is now run by Oseary and managing partner Effie Epstein.
The firm invested $35 million in the same 2023 round at a $5 billion valuation, then added another $400 million across later financings. Bloomberg said, again citing people familiar with the matter, that the stake is now worth several billion dollars, though no exact figure was given.
Menlo Ventures: more than $1 billion invested, stake valued at about $14 billion
Menlo Ventures was one of Anthropic’s earliest venture backers in 2023, when the company had little revenue and was viewed as a weaker challenger to OpenAI. Menlo has invested more than $1 billion in total, including $500 million to lead the Series D round. That $500 million check was also the largest investment in Menlo’s history.
Bloomberg had previously reported that Menlo’s stake was worth about $14 billion at the latest-round valuation, with ownership below 2%. At a $1.5 trillion valuation, that would rise to about $21.8 billion.
Large institutions that came in later
Iconiq: more than $6 billion invested, stake valued at about $17 billion
Iconiq first invested in Anthropic in 2025, when the company was already valued at $183 billion. It has put in more than $6 billion in total, making the deal the largest in Iconiq’s history.
Bloomberg said the stake is worth about $17 billion at the current benchmark valuation, close to three times the amount invested. At a $1.5 trillion valuation, the holding would be worth about $26.4 billion, or roughly $20 billion above cost.
Sequoia Capital: $3 billion invested, about 1% ownership
Sequoia Capital had backed OpenAI earlier and only made its first Anthropic investment this year. In May, Sequoia co-led Anthropic’s $65 billion Series H round alongside Altimeter, Dragoneer, and Greenoaks. Bloomberg, citing people familiar with the matter, said Sequoia has invested about $3 billion in total and owns roughly 1% of the company.
At a $965 billion valuation, a 1% stake would be worth about $9.65 billion, more than triple the capital invested. At a $1.5 trillion valuation, that would be about $15 billion.
GIC: more than $4.5 billion invested, about 1% ownership
Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC first invested in Anthropic in 2025 and has put in more than $4.5 billion in total. It also holds about 1%, implying a value of about $9.65 billion at the $965 billion benchmark and about $15 billion at a $1.5 trillion valuation.
In August, Anthropic also entered a strategic partnership with GIC and Macquarie Asset Management to build data centers.
Eric Schmidt, FTX, and other shareholders
Eric Schmidt: tens of millions invested in 2021, about 1% ownership today
Anthropic’s early funding relied heavily on wealthy angel investors, and former Google CEO Eric Schmidt was one of them. Bloomberg reported on Oct. 20, citing people familiar with the matter, that Schmidt invested tens of millions of dollars in Anthropic’s 2021 Series A and now owns about 1%.
PitchBook data shows Anthropic was valued at only $461 million in that round. Based on the current benchmark valuation, Schmidt’s stake would be worth nearly $10 billion. At a $1.5 trillion valuation, it would be about $15 billion. Bloomberg described him as one of the individual shareholders with the largest potential gains, though it is not clear whether he has sold any shares since investing.
FTX: invested $500 million, sold out in 2024 for about $1.34 billion
FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried was also an early supporter of Anthropic. Court filings in the FTX bankruptcy case show that Clifton Bay, an FTX affiliate, invested $500 million in Anthropic in October 2021. By the close of Anthropic’s Series B in April 2022, the stake stood at about 13.56%. After later fundraising rounds diluted the position, it had fallen to about 7.84% by January 2024.
After FTX entered bankruptcy, the shares were sold in two batches in 2024. The first sale, completed in March, brought in $884 million from 24 buyers. The largest buyer was ATIC, which is affiliated with Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund Mubadala, and it purchased about $500 million. Jane Street bought about $100 million, and a Fidelity fund bought about $45 million.
The second sale, completed at the end of May, raised about $452 million. Together, the two transactions totaled about $1.34 billion, roughly $840 million above FTX’s original $500 million investment.
If FTX’s 7.84% stake at the start of 2024 were simply multiplied by a $1.5 trillion valuation, the implied value would be about $117.6 billion, or about $116.3 billion more than the actual sale proceeds. The source material noted, though, that this calculation does not account for dilution from fundraising rounds after early 2024. Had FTX continued to hold, its ownership would have been lower than 7.84%.
Other investors
Lightspeed Venture Partners began investing in Anthropic from the Series D round, and Bloomberg said its stake is also below 2%, citing people familiar with the matter. Google, Amazon, Nvidia, and Microsoft have each invested billions of dollars. Founders Fund, Altimeter, Coatue, and Greenoaks are also major venture shareholders.
For those investors, publicly available ownership data is still incomplete, so their paper gains cannot yet be calculated on a like-for-like basis. Once Anthropic files publicly, the shareholder table should disclose holders of more than 5% and directors’ stakes, providing official ownership figures.
Current benchmark values cited in the report
- Iconiq: more than $6 billion invested; stake worth about $17 billion at a $965 billion valuation
- Menlo Ventures: more than $1 billion invested; stake worth about $14 billion at the latest-round valuation
- Sequoia Capital: about $3 billion invested; roughly 1% stake worth about $9.65 billion
- Spark Capital: $75 million invested in 2023; stake worth about $7 billion
- FTX: $500 million invested in 2021; fully sold in 2024 for about $1.34 billion
Official ownership data is still pending
For now, the ownership estimates and paper values tied to Anthropic’s expected IPO come mainly from Bloomberg’s reporting based on people familiar with the matter and from calculations using the latest private-market valuation. The public S-1 has not yet appeared in the SEC database. More complete and official ownership data should come only after the filing is made public.
