Who Is Krishna Rao? The CFO Taking Anthropic Public

Last updated: October 26, 2026

Krishna Rao is the chief financial officer (CFO) of Anthropic, the AI company that makes Claude. He is leading the company's preparations for its initial public offering (IPO), when a company first sells its shares to the public. Anthropic publicly filed its S-1 registration statement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Oct. 26, 2026. It plans to list on the Nasdaq stock market under the ticker symbol “ANT.” Rao, 43, signed the filing. He is the only one of Anthropic's three named top executives who is not a co-founder. Before joining Anthropic, he was CFO of Fanatics Commerce and Cedar. He also spent six years at Airbnb, where he helped raise more than $10 billion, including money raised through its IPO.

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Quick facts

• Job: Chief Financial Officer of Anthropic since April 2024.

• Age: 43, according to the S-1 filing.

• Education: Law degree (J.D.) from Yale Law School and bachelor's degree in economics (A.B.) from Harvard College.

• Before Anthropic: CFO of Fanatics Commerce and Cedar; head of corporate and business development at Airbnb; private equity investor at Blackstone; and consultant at Bain & Company.

• Base salary: $1.25 million per year starting Feb. 1, 2026, according to the S-1.

• Anthropic stake: He beneficially owned 9,497,900 shares as of Sept. 30, 2026, mostly in the form of stock options, according to the S-1.

• Company: Anthropic, PBC. Proposed Nasdaq ticker symbol: ANT.

Who is Krishna Rao?

Rao is a finance executive with a law degree. He began his career as a strategy consultant at Bain & Company, where he worked from 2005 to 2008. He then attended Yale Law School. From 2011 to 2015, he worked as a private equity investor at Blackstone and rose to the position of principal.

Rao joined Airbnb in October 2015 and stayed for almost six years. He first worked as director of financial planning and analysis, then became global head of corporate and business development. Anthropic says he helped Airbnb manage the COVID-19 pandemic and helped the company raise more than $10 billion through stock sales and borrowing, including its 2020 IPO.

He left Airbnb in 2021 to become CFO of Cedar, a startup that handles healthcare payments. In 2023, he became CFO of Fanatics Commerce, an online sports merchandise business.

Anthropic hired him in spring 2024, when the company was three years old. Since then, it has raised tens of billions of dollars. CNBC reported that a funding round in late May 2026 valued Anthropic at $965 billion. The company also said its annualized revenue rate had passed $47 billion. This rate estimates yearly revenue based on how much the company is earning at the time.

In August 2026, CNBC reported that Rao was leading early meetings with potential investors to see whether they might be interested in Anthropic's IPO. On Oct. 26, the company made its S-1 filing public, and Rao signed it. Reuters has reported that meetings to promote the IPO to investors are expected to begin around the week of Nov. 9.

Career timeline

• 2005–2008: Works as a strategy consultant at Bain & Company.

• Yale Law School: Earns his law degree.

• 2011–2015: Works at Blackstone as a private equity investor and rises to principal.

• 2015–2021: Works at Airbnb, first as director of financial planning and analysis and then as global head of corporate and business development. Airbnb goes public in December 2020.

• 2021–2023: Works as CFO of Cedar.

• 2023–2024: Works as CFO of Fanatics Commerce.

• March 2, 2024: Signs his job offer letter from Anthropic.

• April 2024: Becomes Anthropic's CFO. The company announces his appointment on May 21, 2024.

• May 2026: The Wall Street Journal profiles him as Anthropic's “perfect wingman.” He also appears on the Invest Like the Best podcast.

• August 2026: Leads early meetings with possible IPO investors, according to CNBC.

• Oct. 26, 2026: Anthropic makes its S-1 filing public. Rao signs the filing.

Notable deals & projects

• Anthropic's IPO: He is leading the process. The company names Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley as the banks to contact for the prospectus, a document that explains the stock offering to investors.

• Computing deals: He oversees how much computing power Anthropic buys and which companies it buys it from. He says Anthropic can use chips from Amazon (Trainium), Google (TPUs) and Nvidia (GPUs) for similar tasks.

• Fundraising: He has served as CFO during Anthropic's largest private fundraising rounds, including the round in late May 2026 that CNBC said valued the company at $965 billion.

• Airbnb: According to Anthropic, he helped Airbnb raise more than $10 billion through its IPO and other funding deals.

Want the full story? Read our edition about the competition between AI companies — The AI titans locked in an arms race — then subscribe free.

What he's known for

• Being the outsider at the top: Anthropic's other two named top executives, CEO Dario Amodei and President Daniela Amodei, are co-founders. Rao is not a co-founder.

• Careful planning for computing needs: He uses the phrase “cone of uncertainty” to describe the challenge of deciding how much computing power to buy years ahead of time, when future needs are unclear.

• IPO experience: He was part of the team that took Airbnb public.

In the news

• Oct. 26, 2026: Anthropic makes its S-1 filing public. It lists Rao's pay, company shares and a new agreement about what he would receive if he lost his job.

• Aug. 13, 2026: CNBC reports that Rao is leading Anthropic's early meetings with possible IPO investors. Sources told CNBC that the meetings covered broad plans and did not include discussions about the company's value.

• May 2026: The Wall Street Journal publishes a profile of him titled “Meet Anthropic's ‘Perfect Wingman’ for Its Race Against OpenAI.”

Quotes

• “The computing power we buy is the lifeblood of our business. It is the most important thing in the company. It's like the canvas on which everything else gets built.” — on Invest Like the Best, May 2026

• “If you buy too much computing power, you go out of business. If you buy too little computing power, you can't serve your customers and you're not at the frontier.” — on Invest Like the Best, May 2026

• “Anthropic's mission to build advanced AI systems that bring major benefits to humanity deeply connects with me.” — when he joined, May 2024

• “Krishna is a world-class financial leader.” — Daniela Amodei, May 2024

Controversies / criticism

There are no major public controversies or criticisms about Rao personally. The S-1 says Anthropic began paying for security services for him in 2026, after an outside study looked at the risks he faces.

Net worth & money

Rao's net worth has not been reported. However, the S-1 shows how much Anthropic pays him:

• 2025 total pay: $720,250. This included $706,250 in salary and a $14,000 contribution to his 401(k) retirement plan.

• Salary: $700,000 for most of 2025. It increased to $850,000 in mid-December 2025, then to $1.25 million on Feb. 1, 2026.

• Hiring grant: Stock options covering 14 million shares at $1.30 per share, which become available over four years under the vesting schedule.

• 2026 grants: 1,122,840 stock options at $17.66 per share and 1,862,140 restricted stock units, both granted on Feb. 20, 2026.

• Ownership: He beneficially owned 9,497,900 shares. This includes 153,960 shares he holds directly and options on about 9.3 million more shares, including 1.5 million held through a trust.

• Severance: If Anthropic fires him without a valid reason under his agreement, he receives 12 months of salary, 12 months of health coverage and 12 months of additional stock vesting. If he loses his job because the company is sold, all his equity vests in full.

His shares could be worth much more if Anthropic's IPO is priced near the $2 trillion value that some investors have suggested, according to CNBC. Anthropic has not set an IPO price.

FAQ

Who is Krishna Rao?

He is Anthropic's chief financial officer and the executive leading its IPO.

How old is Krishna Rao?

He is 43, according to Anthropic's S-1 filing.

Is Krishna Rao a co-founder of Anthropic?

No. He joined the company as CFO in 2024. He is the only one of Anthropic's three named top executives who is not a co-founder.

Where did Krishna Rao work before Anthropic?

He was CFO of Fanatics Commerce and Cedar. Before those jobs, he worked at Airbnb, Blackstone and Bain & Company.

Where did Krishna Rao go to school?

He studied economics at Harvard College and earned a law degree at Yale Law School.

How much does Krishna Rao make?

His base salary has been $1.25 million a year since Feb. 1, 2026. His total pay in 2025 was $720,250, according to the S-1. Most of his wealth is tied to Anthropic stock options.

When is the Anthropic IPO?

Anthropic made its S-1 filing public on Oct. 26, 2026. It has not announced an IPO date or price. Reuters has reported that meetings to promote the offering to investors could begin around the week of Nov. 9.

What is Anthropic's ticker?

ANT, on the Nasdaq Global Select Market.

Further reading

• Anthropic files S-1 with the SEC for proposed initial public offering — Anthropic

• Anthropic's S-1 on EDGAR — SEC

• Anthropic CFO Krishna Rao is leading early IPO meetings — CNBC

• Meet Anthropic's ‘Perfect Wingman’ for Its Race Against OpenAI — The Wall Street Journal

• Who Is Dario Amodei? — The Profile

• Who Is Daniela Amodei? — The Profile

• The AI titans locked in an arms race — The Profile

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