Anthropic Eyes Record $2 Trillion IPO with Insider Share Sale, Report Says

AI firm Anthropic is reportedly targeting a valuation between $1.5 trillion and $2 trillion in what could be the largest initial public offering on record, according to a report from The Information. The company is planning an unusual structure that would allow existing shareholders to sell stock directly in the offering, which could raise more than $86 billion.

IPO Structure and Scale

The proposed IPO includes a structured secondary tranche, a mechanism that allows early investors and insiders to realize gains by selling a portion of their holdings as part of the public debut. According to the report, this structure is also intended to help Anthropic steer its IPO allocation toward preferred long-term institutional investors.

The unprecedented capital raise is driven by the scale of the company's computational requirements. Anthropic recently signed a $45 billion, six-year agreement to rent AI computing power from Nscale's data center campus, highlighting the immense costs associated with developing large-scale AI models.

Mitigating Investor Concerns

Insider selling during an IPO can sometimes be a negative signal for new investors, raising concerns about the long-term confidence of those closest to the company. To counteract this perception, Anthropic is reportedly considering measures to ensure market stability post-listing.

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According to The Information's sources, the company is weighing a lockup period longer than the standard 180 days for at least some of its existing shareholders. This would restrict insiders from selling additional shares for an extended time after the IPO, aiming to mitigate the risk of a supply overhang that could pressure the stock price.

Financial Outlook and Timeline

Anthropic's ambitious valuation is reportedly supported by strong internal forecasts, with the company projecting annual revenue of roughly $190 billion to $200 billion by 2028. The developer of the Claude AI models is a major player in the competitive generative AI industry.

According to the report, Anthropic plans to publicly file its IPO prospectus after the Labor Day holiday. An investor day is slated for mid-September, with the public offering targeted for late September or early October.