Early AI Betters See Massive Returns Ahead of Anthropic IPO

The final stretch toward a public listing for Anthropic is creating a historic windfall for its earliest backers. With the company expected to go public later this year at a valuation that could reach two trillion dollars, the financial stakes for venture capitalists and angel investors have never been higher. Even before the official ring is dropped, the paper gains for those who bet on the AI lab during its private rounds are staggering, marking one of the most lucrative exits in the history of technology startups.

The sheer scale of these returns is evident when looking at the company's last private valuation of $965 billion. At that mark alone, the holdings of key investors already amount to billions of dollars, with some seeing their initial checks multiply by orders of magnitude. This trajectory suggests that the upcoming IPO will not just be a corporate milestone but a massive liquidity event for the individuals and firms that supported the company from the ground up.

One of the most notable gains belongs to Eric Schmidt, the former CEO of Google. Schmidt made his move during Anthropic’s Series A round in 2021, a time when the startup was valued at just $461 million. According to PitchBook data, his participation in that early stage has given him roughly one percent of the company. At the current private valuation, that small slice of the pie is now worth nearly ten billion dollars, a testament to the explosive growth of the AI sector over the last few years.

Later-stage investors have also reaped significant rewards, though their entry points were much higher. Iconiq, for instance, wrote a six billion dollar check to Anthropic last year when the valuation stood at $183 billion. That late-stage bet has since grown to a value of $17 billion, with analysts suggesting it could double once the company hits the public markets. Similarly, Menlo Ventures, which led the Series D round, has invested over a billion dollar in total, securing a stake currently valued at $14 billion.

Newer entrants to the capital table have also seen rapid appreciation. Sequoia, a veteran in the venture world, only first backed Anthropic earlier this year, investing $3 billion when the company was valued at $380 billion. This move secured them about one percent ownership, meaning their investment has already more than doubled in value in a matter of months. Meanwhile, Sound Ventures, co-founded by Guy Oseary and Ashton Kutcher, poured $35 million into the 2023 Series C round and has since added another $400 million, resulting in a stake now worth billions, even though Kutcher has since moved on to launch his own firm.

Perhaps the most dramatic multiplier belongs to Spark Capital, the only venture firm known to hold a board seat at Anthropic. The firm invested $75 million in the 2023 Series C round, when the company was valued at just $5 billion. That single position has ballooned more than ninetyfold, reaching a current value of $7 billion. As the IPO date approaches, these figures underscore just how quickly the landscape of AI investment has shifted, turning modest early bets into life-changing sums of money.