Anthropic IPO buzz: CFO Krishna Rao’s stake could be worth $703 million as AI firm eyes $1.4 trillion valuation

Indian-origin Krishna Rao, chief financial officer of artificial intelligence startup Anthropic, could see his stake in the Claude chatbot maker valued at around $703 million as the company gears up for its much-anticipated initial public offering (IPO).

The Claude chatbot maker is targeting a fundraising of up to $90.4 billion through its IPO and a concurrent private placement involving some of the world's largest technology companies. The proposed transaction could give the company a fully diluted valuation of approximately $1.4 trillion.

According to a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Tuesday, Anthropic has proposed a base IPO offering of up to $64.4 billion, with shares priced between $70 and $78 apiece. The company plans to issue 801.4 million shares, while existing investors are looking to sell another 23.6 million shares.


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Krishna Rao's Anthropic stake could be worth $703 million

Rao, who joined Anthropic as chief financial officer in 2024, beneficially owns nearly 9.5 million shares, including shares underlying exercisable stock options, according to the IPO filing.

At the midpoint of the proposed price range of $74 per share, his holding would be valued at approximately $703 million, excluding the costs associated with exercising stock options.

Unlike several other shareholders, Rao is not offering any of his shares for sale in the proposed IPO.

With nearly two decades of experience spanning consulting, investment and technology companies, Rao oversees Anthropic's financial operations and has played a role in its fundraising efforts and preparations for its public market debut.

He is also participating in the ongoing investor roadshow, meeting prospective investors at events hosted by Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs ahead of the planned listing next week, The New York Times reported.

Anthropic co-founders to sell shares worth $1.75 billion

Anthropic's seven co-founders, including chief executive Dario Amodei and his sister Daniela Amodei, are expected to sell shares worth approximately $250 million each in the IPO.

Their combined share sales could total around $1.75 billion. Despite the proposed transactions, each co-founder's remaining stake is valued at roughly $18 billion at the midpoint of the IPO price range.

Amazon, Google stakes could be worth $411 billion

Amazon and Alphabet, Google's parent company, are among Anthropic's largest investors. Their combined holdings in the AI company could be worth approximately $411 billion if the IPO is priced at the upper end of the proposed range, according to Reuters calculations based on the filing.

Separately, seven technology companies — Google, Microsoft, Nvidia, AMD, Broadcom, Micron and TSMC — have agreed to purchase $26 billion worth of non-voting shares at the IPO price through a private placement.

Other investors include Founders Fund, the venture capital firm founded by Peter Thiel. Former Google chief executive Eric Schmidt was among Anthropic's earliest external investors, committing tens of millions of dollars to the company's first funding round in 2021.

In May, Anthropic raised $65 billion at a valuation of $965 billion, surpassing OpenAI in valuation for the first time.

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Anthropic's total fundraising could approach $100 billion

Including the private placement and a greenshoe, or over-allotment, option, Anthropic's total fundraising could approach $100 billion, according to Bloomberg News calculations.

The amount would exceed SpaceX's $75 billion base offering and the $86.2 billion it raised after exercising its greenshoe option.

ALSO READ: Anthropic targets $90 billion IPO at $1.4 trillion valuation

The proposed IPO comes against the backdrop of a selloff in AI-related stocks last week. The decline was driven by concerns that politicians advocating tighter regulations on data centres and related infrastructure could raise costs and constrain the development of artificial intelligence technology.

Disclosure: This article has been written by Kumar Gaurav, who is not a Sebi-registered Research Analyst or an Investment Adviser. Gaurav and their ‘relative(s)’ (as defined under Section 2(77) of the Companies Act, 2013) do not hold any financial interest in the companies mentioned in this article as of the date of publication. The views/recommendations mentioned in this article, wherever applicable, are those of the respective Sebi-registered Research Analyst/brokerage and have been reproduced/reported with due attribution. They should not be construed as the views or recommendations of The Economic Times Digital or the journalist. Readers are advised to consider the original research report and make their investment decisions based on their own assessment. Brokerage disclaimers here