Bloomberg reports former Google chief executive Eric Schmidt owns about 1 percent of Anthropic from an early bet, setting up a huge IPO windfall

Context

This is a report based on unnamed people familiar with the matter. Schmidt and Anthropic declined to comment to Bloomberg, and it is unclear whether he has sold any of his stake.

Deep dive

On October 19, Bloomberg reporter Natasha Mascarenhas posted that one of the more interesting things about Anthropic's cap table is that until its Series C, its funding rounds were dominated by super angels and nonprofits. She shared a scoop with Tom Maloney on one of the angels that got in early, former Google CEO Eric Schmidt.

In the Bloomberg story, as republished by Business Standard, people familiar with the matter said Schmidt owns around 1 percent of Anthropic after investing tens of millions of dollars in its Series A. Bloomberg cited Pitchbook data valuing Anthropic at $461 million when he first invested in 2021. It said investors indicated last week that a fair value for the company is $1.8 trillion to $2 trillion, which would raise his net worth by about a third to nearly $80 billion, and that even at Anthropic's last valuation of $965 billion his stake would add nearly $10 billion to a fortune of $57.5 billion.

Bloomberg said Anthropic could start formally marketing its IPO as soon as the week of November 9. Reuters, summarizing the scoop, noted it had reported that some investors discussed a valuation of around $1.5 trillion at an investor meeting, below earlier expectations.

What to expect next

Watch Anthropic's public IPO filing, which should show major shareholders and whether early angels like Schmidt still hold their stakes. The final IPO valuation will decide whether his gain is closer to $15 billion or $20 billion. Also watch how OpenAI's race to raise money before the listing affects demand for Anthropic shares, and whether other early angels are named before the listing.