Anthropic Backers Hold Billions Before Listing

Even before Anthropic goes public, some of its financial backers are already holding billions of dollars in paper wealth. The AI laboratory is preparing for a listing expected later this year that could value the company as high as $2 trillion. However, current figures calculated at its recent private valuation of $965 billion reveal that several major investors have already realized substantial gains on their early and later-stage bets. Bloomberg provided the specific valuations for these stakes.

Eric Schmidt, the former Google chief executive, is among those seeing enormous returns. Schmidt participated in Anthropic’s Series A round back in 2021, when the company was valued at just $461 million, based on PitchBook data. Today, he controls approximately 1% of the company. At the current private valuation, that slice is worth nearly $10 billion.

Late-stage capital is also performing well for firms like Iconiq. The investment outfit committed $6 billion to the firm last year while the company was already valued at $183 billion. That specific stake has now grown to $17 billion. Menlo Ventures, which led Anthropic’s Series D and has invested more than $1 billion over time, holds a position currently valued at $14 billion.

Sequoia Capital entered the picture earlier this year when the company was already valued at $380 billion. Its $3 billion investment yielded roughly 1% ownership in the company. This holding has already more than doubled in value compared to the initial capital outlay.

Other firms are also holding substantial positions. Sound Ventures, founded by Guy Oseary and actor Ashton Kutcher, invested $35 million in 2023 and later added $400 million, resulting in a stake worth billions. Kutcher departed Sound Ventures this year to launch his own firm. Spark Capital, the only venture firm known to hold a board seat, put $75 million into the 2023 round at a $5 billion valuation. That position has grown more than ninetyfold to $7 billion.