Anthropic is reportedly asking shareholders to hand CEO Dario Amodei and his six co-founders 50.1% of the vote on most corporate matters before what could be a record IPO.
Key Points:
- Anthropic's seven co-founders would jointly hold 50.1% of votes on most matters through a special share class.
- The Long-Term Benefit Trust would still appoint a majority of the board, while founder seats rise from two to three.
- The IPO is expected in late October or November at a targeted valuation near $2 trillion.
Anthropic Voting Control Plan
The Claude maker wants shareholders to approve a special class of stock giving its founders collective voting power, according to a Sept. 24 report that cited people familiar with the plan. The design borrows from Palantir Technologies and would stay in force as long as at least three of the seven founders keep a minimum stake. Follow-up coverage showed the founders would hold that stock through a separate limited liability company, an unusual collective setup for a tech listing.
Board elections are the major exception.
Anthropic's Long-Term Benefit Trust, an independent body that includes former Federal Reserve chair Ben Bernanke, would still appoint a majority of the seven-seat board. The founders' own allotment would rise from two seats to three. Employees would also receive a separate class of stock that would act as a tie-breaker on some corporate issues.
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Palantir-Style Founder Control
Palantir's founders stop just short of 50% of the vote, so Anthropic's version would go a step further, one market analysis noted.
The new shares carry no extra economic rights, which matters because each founder's stake is unusually small and all of them have pledged to give away 80% of their wealth, a commitment Amodei described in a January essay.
Nic Puckrin, founder of Coin Bureau, argued this month that scarce shares and the broader AI frenzy may explain Anthropic's private-market price as much as its business does. He said the real test of investor conviction will come after the listing, once the stock trades freely. He also questioned the circular financing he sees propping up AI valuations, pointing to deals such as Nvidia's partnerships with BlackRock.
Anthropic IPO Valuation Path
The listing is now expected in late October or November, though an earlier report suggested it could slip past the U.S. midterm elections that month. Anthropic is reportedly targeting a valuation of around $2 trillion, which would make it the most valuable public benefit corporation ever to list in the U.S.
The company raised $65 billion at a $965 billion post-money valuation in its May funding round. Implied values on secondary markets climbed to $1.2 trillion by July, even though brokers said trades rarely closed because almost no one wanted to sell. Estimates of Anthropic's secondary-market value have since ranged from roughly $1.05 trillion to $1.5 trillion.
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