Anthropic seeks $100 billion in historic stock sale

Anthropic filed paperwork on Monday for an initial public offering that could raise up to $100 billion. The San Francisco-based company plans to list its shares on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the ticker symbol ANT. This move positions the five-year-old startup to debut on Wall Street next month.

The offering would potentially eclipse the $86 billion raised by SpaceX in its June IPO. Anthropic's revenue grew to more than $16 billion in the first half of 2026, a figure 14 times higher than the same period last year. Despite this growth, the company behind the Claude chatbot has not yet turned a profit.

The filing reports a net loss of $80.7 billion for the first half of 2026. This loss included a one-time accounting charge of $72.4 billion related to financing agreements. A year ago, Anthropic reported a loss of $13 billion for the same period. Private investors valued the company at $965 billion earlier this year, but reports suggest that value could rise to $1.5 trillion or $2 trillion.

CEO Dario Amodei and his sister, Daniela Amodei, stand to gain substantial wealth from the sale. Disclosures indicate each founder holds 1.4% of the company. At the top expected valuation, that stake would be worth as much as $28 billion per person. Forbes currently ranks the siblings as the 176th and 177th richest people in the world, with a combined wealth of $15.5 billion each.

The 335-page filing includes nearly 100 pages of risk factors. These risks range from regulatory hurdles to the possibility that AI models could pose catastrophic risks to humanity. The company also granted its seven founders 50.1% of shareholder votes through a special class of shares. An independent Long-Term Benefit Trust will hold the power to appoint directors to prioritize public safety over financial interests.

Anthropic faces intense competition from OpenAI, Google, and other startups. The company is rushing to access public markets this year rather than waiting until next year. David Hsu, a management professor at the University of Pennsylvania, described the filing as a move to diversify the company's financial base. He noted that Anthropic feels confident in its safety aspects relative to its rivals.

The company is currently in a legal dispute with the U.S. government over military use of its technology. A California judge ruled in Anthropic's favor in one case, while a Washington, D.C. judge sided with the government in another. Both sides are appealing those decisions.