What some of Anthropic’s backers are reportedly worth before its IPO
News Source
•Fri, 23 Oct 2026 16:02:43 +0000
📰 What Happened
Anthropic's public listing could value the AI company at up to $2 trillion. Even before that, its private value is about $965 billion, and some early backers are already sitting on huge paper gains.
Former Google chief Eric Schmidt put money in during 2021, when Anthropic was worth $461 million. His stake of about 1% is now worth close to $10 billion. The firm Iconiq wrote a $6 billion cheque last year, and that stake is now worth $17 billion.
🔍 The Backstory
Anthropic makes the Claude family of AI models and competes with OpenAI and Google. Venture firms have poured billions into AI labs, betting that the winners will become some of the biggest companies in the world.
Those bets carry real risk. The money is mostly on paper until shares can be sold, and AI values have swung sharply. Sequoia only invested this year, when the company was already worth $380 billion, and has already doubled its money.
🎯 Why It Matters
These numbers show how much money is flowing into AI, and how a few early cheques can turn into billions while most people never get a chance to buy in.
Anthropic's public listing could value the AI company at up to $2 trillion. Even before that, its private value is about $965 billion, and some early backers are already sitting on huge paper gains.
Former Google chief Eric Schmidt put money in during 2021, when Anthropic was worth $461 million. His stake of about 1% is now worth close to $10 billion. The firm Iconiq wrote a $6 billion cheque last year, and that stake is now worth $17 billion.
Anthropic makes the Claude family of AI models and competes with OpenAI and Google. Venture firms have poured billions into AI labs, betting that the winners will become some of the biggest companies in the world.
Those bets carry real risk. The money is mostly on paper until shares can be sold, and AI values have swung sharply. Sequoia only invested this year, when the company was already worth $380 billion, and has already doubled its money.
These numbers show how much money is flowing into AI, and how a few early cheques can turn into billions while most people never get a chance to buy in.