Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt reportedly owns about 1% of Anthropic ahead of its IPO

Eric Schmidt, the former CEO of Google, owns about 1% of Anthropic, according to Bloomberg. If the AI company sells shares to the public at the prices investors are discussing, his share could be worth billions of dollars.

Schmidt invested tens of millions of dollars in Anthropic's first major funding round, known as Series A, in 2021, Bloomberg reported. The news outlet cited people who know about the investment. The report has not been independently confirmed. Bloomberg also said it was not clear whether Schmidt had sold any of his shares since he first invested.

Anthropic raised $124 million in that funding round. Skype co-founder Jaan Tallinn led the round, and Facebook co-founder Dustin Moskovitz also invested. According to PitchBook data cited by Bloomberg, Anthropic was valued at $461 million at the time.

Since then, the company's value has risen sharply. After its latest private funding round in May, Anthropic was valued at $965 billion. At that value, Schmidt's reported 1% share would be worth about $9.7 billion.

The company could be worth much more if its shares are sold on the public market. Bloomberg reported that potential investors have discussed a value of $1.8 trillion to $2 trillion for an initial public offering (IPO), when a company first sells shares to the public. At the higher figure, Schmidt's 1% share would be worth about $20 billion. If he still owns all of that share, his estimated wealth would rise from $57.5 billion to nearly $80 billion.

Reuters reported on Monday that some Anthropic investors are now pushing for a lower value of about $1.5 trillion after the company reported weaker results for the third quarter. Even at that value, Schmidt's share would be worth about $15 billion.

Not everyone agrees with the high values being discussed. New Constructs, a US research firm, has called Anthropic's planned stock market listing the year's “most ridiculous IPO”. The firm values Anthropic at $144 billion, far below the figures potential IPO investors are considering.

Schmidt led Google from 2001 to 2011. He later served as chair of Google's parent company, Alphabet, until early 2018. Bloomberg reported that he has also invested in AI startups such as Mistral AI, Reflection AI, and World Labs through investment firms, including Innovation Endeavors, and his family office, Hillspire.

Google is also one of Anthropic's biggest investors, alongside Amazon. Both companies have invested billions of dollars in Anthropic and provide the cloud computing systems that power its Claude AI models.

Anthropic could start promoting its shares to potential investors as early as the week of 9 November, Bloomberg reported earlier this month. Trading could begin before US Thanksgiving on 26 November. The schedule and final company value have not yet been confirmed.