Anthropic PBC warns investors of illegal trade in its shares

Anthropic PBC identified a number of secondary marketplaces as unauthorised sellers of the company's shares, telling investors that buying the stock won't work.

The company had previously warned investors in a blog post about "stock scams" issuing fraudulent share certificates in the private artificial intelligence developer. On Tuesday, Anthropic updated the post to name eight different firms offering access to unauthorised shares "in violation of our transfer restrictions."

The creator of Claude is one of the most coveted companies in the booming, largely unregulated market. Secondary markets allow employees and early investors to sell shares of private firms. These transactions are increasingly popular as venture-funded businesses stay private longer and reach historic valuations, creating a cottage industry of platforms offering retail investors access to buzzy startups.


Anthropic has entertained offers from investment firms for a valuation of more than $900 billion, Bloomberg News previously reported.

In its post about unauthorized sellers, Anthropic warned against new offerings from prominent secondary platforms Hiive and Forge Global. Anthropic also named Sydecar, Open Door Partners, Lionheart Ventures, UpMarket, Unicorns Exchange and Pachamama.

A spokesperson for Forge said the company is working with Anthropic to remove the firm’s name from the alert. “Forge does not facilitate transactions in any private company’s shares without the explicit approval of the company,” the spokesperson wrote in an email. Anthropic didn’t immediately comment on Forge’s statement.

A Hiive spokesperson said the firm “invested heavily in legal, compliance, and diligence infrastructure from the beginning, and all share transfers facilitated by Hiive are approved by the issuer.”

A Sydecar representative said in a statement that it “requires sponsors to attest that they have reviewed relevant documents relating to the transferability of shares” and needs consent from companies providing shares.

Idan Miller, a managing partner for Unicorns Exchange, said his firm stopped offering Anthropic shares after the blog post. “We hope the company will reconsider,” he wrote in an email.

The other firms Anthropic named didn’t respond to requests for comment.

Anthropic has been particularly stringent about secondary markets. The company says it prohibits the use of special purpose vehicles, or SPVs — financing tools that let investors pool capital to participate in funding rounds or purchase shares.

As startup funding rounds have grown, some venture firms have used SPVs as a way to continue to invest in fast-growing businesses. Still, the popularity of the vehicles with retail investors has invited scrutiny.

In its blog post, Anthropic cautioned investors against accepting any unsolicited offers for shares or requests to pay using cryptocurrencies. Anyone sending an Anthropic stock certificate to the general public, the company added, “is very likely engaged in fraud.”