Sovereign funds circle FTX’s $1b stake in Anthropic

Investment giants and sovereign wealth funds are showing a keen interest in acquiring FTX’s shares in Anthropic, an artificial intelligence startup rivaling OpenAI.

FTX invested $500 million in San Francisco-based Anthropic three years ago, securing an 8% stake. The value of that stake has since doubled to over $1 billion.

Class B shares, which lack voting rights, are now being offered based on Anthropic’s most recent valuation of $18.4 billion.

The funds from selling these shares will be used to reimburse FTX clients. According to reports from CNBC, the sale is progressing smoothly and is expected to conclude within the next few weeks.

Investment bank Perella Weinberg is managing the sale on behalf of FTX.

The sale is also attracting a group of new investors, meaning that prior backers like Amazon, Salesforce and Alphabet are not part of this round.

FTX is exploring the sale of its shares through special purpose vehicles (SPVs), facilitating collective investment from various parties.

Saudi Arabia-based buyers are reportedly interested in acquiring these shares. However, Anthropic executives have revealed to CNBC that Saudi investments are not being considered due to matters of national security. 

Anthropic founders Dario and Daniela Amodei have attracted roughly $7 billion in funding. They have the right to challenge any potential investors. However, they are not involved in the current fundraising process, or in the discussions with potential investors in FTX’s stake.