Anthropic's Early Backers Are Sitting on Billions Ahead of an IPO That Could Value the AI Company at Up to $2 Trillion

Anthropic, the artificial intelligence company behind the Claude models, is heading towards what could be one of the largest stock market listings in history, and the investors who backed it early are already counting extraordinary paper gains.

The company's IPO is expected this year at a valuation of "as much as $2 trillion," TechCrunch reported on Friday, October 23, citing Bloomberg. Its latest private valuation is $965 billion, set in a $65 billion funding round in May.

Based on that private valuation, Bloomberg estimated what some of Anthropic's backers are now worth, according to TechCrunch.

The winners so far

Spark Capital, the only venture firm known to hold a board seat at Anthropic, invested $75 million in the company's 2023 Series C at a valuation of $5 billion. Its stake is now worth about $7 billion, more than 90 times its investment.

Former Google chief executive Eric Schmidt invested in Anthropic's 2021 Series A, when the company was valued at $461 million. He owns about 1%, worth nearly $10 billion.

ICONIQ wrote a $6 billion cheque last year, when Anthropic was valued at $183 billion. That stake is now worth about $17 billion and could double at the IPO.

Menlo Ventures, which led the Series D and has invested more than $1 billion in total, holds a stake worth about $14 billion.

Sequoia first invested earlier this year at a $380 billion valuation, putting in $3 billion for about 1% of the company. Its stake has more than doubled in value.

Sound Ventures, the firm co-founded by actor Ashton Kutcher, invested $35 million in the 2023 Series C and later added about $400 million. Its stake is worth billions.

A rocket ride

Anthropic's valuation has risen at a pace rarely seen in corporate history. Founded in 2021 by former OpenAI researchers, including siblings Dario and Daniela Amodei, it was valued at less than half a billion dollars in its first institutional round. Within five years, its private valuation has approached $1 trillion.

That rise reflects the explosive growth of demand for AI models, particularly from businesses. Anthropic's Claude models have become widely used for coding, enterprise applications and AI agents, and the company has built a strong position among corporate customers and developers.

Large technology companies, including Amazon and Google, have invested billions of dollars in Anthropic, partly through commitments to supply computing capacity.

The IPO race

Anthropic filed confidential IPO paperwork in June 2026, as did OpenAI. CNBC has reported that Anthropic is seeking a valuation of $1.5 trillion to $2 trillion in its public debut, and speculation has grown that it could file a public registration statement soon.

OpenAI, by contrast, is finalising a private funding round of up to $30 billion at a $1.25 trillion valuation, according to reports this week, suggesting it is in less of a hurry to list.

A public listing would give Anthropic access to a broader pool of capital to fund its enormous spending on computing infrastructure, and would provide liquidity for early investors and employees.

Paper gains and real risks

The figures cited are paper gains based on private valuations. Actual returns will depend on the IPO price, how the shares trade afterwards and when investors sell. Lock-up periods typically prevent insiders from selling for several months after a listing.

There are also risks. Public market investors may be less willing than private investors to pay extremely high multiples for AI companies, especially amid concerns about the sustainability of AI spending. Technology stocks have been volatile this autumn, and several AI-related IPOs have struggled, including South Korea's Elice.

Anthropic also faces intense competition from OpenAI, Google, Meta, xAI and Chinese developers, as well as the challenge of turning its revenue growth into sustainable profits given the high costs of training and running frontier models.

What it means for venture capital

If Anthropic lists successfully at a valuation near $2 trillion, it would deliver some of the largest returns in venture capital history. Such outcomes reinforce the "power law" dynamic of venture investing, in which a small number of investments generate most of the returns.

They could also encourage more capital to flow into AI startups, as investors seek the next frontier AI winner, though the scale of capital required to compete at the frontier now limits the field to a handful of companies.

What it means for India

India is a significant market for Anthropic's Claude, with many Indian developers and businesses using its models. Anthropic opened an office in Bengaluru, reflecting the importance of India's developer community and enterprise market.

For Indian investors, Anthropic's IPO would offer exposure to a leading AI company, though most Indian retail investors would need to access US markets through overseas investment platforms. The success of frontier AI companies also underlines the scale of investment India would need to compete in foundation models.

The employees' windfall

Beyond investors, Anthropic's employees stand to benefit significantly from an IPO. Like most startups, the company compensates employees partly in equity, and early employees could hold stakes worth millions or even billions of dollars at current valuations. Anthropic's co-founders, including chief executive Dario Amodei and president Daniela Amodei, are among the largest individual shareholders.

Anthropic is structured as a public benefit corporation, meaning its directors must consider the public interest alongside shareholder returns. It also has a Long-Term Benefit Trust, which has the power to elect some board members, designed to keep the company focused on its mission of developing AI safely. How that structure works for a listed company will be closely watched by investors.

What comes next

Investors will be watching for Anthropic's public filing, which would reveal detailed financial information for the first time. The valuation set at the IPO will serve as a benchmark for the entire AI industry.

For Anthropic's early backers, the coming months could turn extraordinary paper gains into real wealth. The listing would also test whether public market investors are willing to embrace the governance structures that AI companies have adopted to balance commercial goals with safety commitments, including mission-focused boards and trusts that limit the influence of ordinary shareholders. Anthropic's filing, when it comes, will offer the first detailed look at the economics of a frontier AI company preparing to face public markets.