Ex-Google CEO Eric Schmidt Reportedly Owns 1% of Anthropic Ahead of IPO - Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL)
Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt reportedly owns about 1% of Anthropic PBC because he invested in the company early. If Anthropic goes public as expected, he could make one of the largest personal gains from the artificial intelligence company's upcoming stock market debut.
An Early Series A Investment
Schmidt invested "tens of millions of dollars" in Anthropic's Series A funding round, according to a Bloomberg report published Monday. The report cited people who know about the investment.
However, it is not clear whether he has sold any part of his early investment.
Anthropic and Schmidt did not immediately respond to Benzinga's request for comment.
Schmidt was Google's CEO from 2001 to 2011. During that time, he oversaw its 2004 stock market listing. He later became the company's executive chairman.
He continued in that role at Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) (NASDAQ: GOOGL) when Alphabet was created in 2015. In 2017, he moved to a role advising the company on technology.
How Much Schmidt Could Gain
According to the data company PitchBook, Anthropic was worth $461 million when Schmidt invested in it in 2021.
Bloomberg reported that last week, investors suggested Anthropic's fair value was between $1.8 trillion and $2 trillion. At the top of that range, the company that makes Claude could be worth more than 4,300 times the amount raised in its Series A funding round.
At a value of $2 trillion, Schmidt's stake could increase his wealth by about one-third, bringing his total net worth to nearly $80 billion, according to Bloomberg's wealth index.
Anthropic was valued at $965 billion in May. At that value, Schmidt could gain $10 billion, increasing his current net worth of $57.5 billion, the report added.
Other Investors
Alphabet owns about 14% of Anthropic. At a company value of $2 trillion, that stake would be worth more than $280 billion. Amazon.com, Inc. has invested an estimated $8 billion.
Nvidia Corp. and Microsoft Corp. have also invested in the company behind Claude in later funding rounds.
An IPO Could Happen Within Weeks
Anthropic has not officially announced a date for its initial public offering (IPO), when its shares would become available to public investors. Brad Gerstner of Altimeter Capital, an early investor, told CNBC last week that he expects the company to go public in "weeks, not months."
Anthropic told investors that its third-quarter revenue rose 45% from the previous quarter to $16.8 billion. The company also said it made a profit after certain adjustments, Reuters reported.
Stock Price Changes: Alphabet's Class A shares closed 1.05% higher on Monday at $344.18 and rose another 0.070% in extended trading. Its Class C shares closed 0.96% higher at $340.16 and gained 0.041% in after-hours trading.
Benzinga Edge rankings show that Alphabet's Class A stock has a Momentum score higher than 81% of the stocks measured and a Growth score higher than 84% of the stocks measured.
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