Anthropic Backers Sit on Billions Before Possible $2 Trillion IPO

Anthropic's expected IPO this year could value the company at as much as $2 trillion — and its investors are already sitting on multibillion-dollar stakes at the last private round's price. The AI lab's most recent private market valuation stands at $965 billion, according to Bloomberg. On that basis, even late arrivals have doubled their money, and early ones have multiplied theirs many times over.

The listing, if it happens this year, would turn those paper gains into one of the largest wealth transfers in venture capital history. Here is what the leading backers hold at the last round's price.

What is Eric Schmidt's stake worth?

Eric Schmidt invested in Anthropic's Series A in 2021, when the startup carried a valuation of $461 million, according to PitchBook data. The former Google CEO now owns about 1% of the company. At the current private valuation of $965 billion, that stake is worth nearly $10 billion — roughly a 2,000-fold jump in the company's price tag since he wrote his check. An IPO at $2 trillion would double it again.

How big is the late-stage money?

Iconiq wrote a $6 billion check to Anthropic last year, when the company was already valued at $183 billion. That massive late-stage bet is now worth $17 billion, according to Bloomberg, and has the potential to double at the IPO. The entry price was high; the return came anyway.

Sequoia made its first investment only earlier this year, at a $380 billion valuation. The famed venture firm put in $3 billion for roughly 1% ownership. That position has already more than doubled — before any public listing.

Who led the mid-stage rounds?

Menlo Ventures led Anthropic's Series D and has invested more than $1 billion in the company over time. The stake is now worth $14 billion at the private valuation.

Spark Capital, the only VC firm known to hold a board seat at Anthropic, invested $75 million in the 2023 Series C round, when the company was valued at $5 billion. That position has ballooned more than 90-fold to $7 billion — the largest multiple among the backers Bloomberg tracked.

Sound Ventures, the firm launched by Guy Oseary and actor Ashton Kutcher, invested $35 million in that same 2023 Series C round. It has since funneled an additional $400 million into Anthropic, and the resulting stake is now worth billions. Kutcher left Sound Ventures this year to launch a new VC firm.

What does the spread of returns show?

The numbers lay out a clear mechanism: the earlier the check, the bigger the multiple. Schmidt bought at a $461 million valuation in 2021 and holds nearly $10 billion. Spark Capital bought at $5 billion in 2023 and turned $75 million into $7 billion. Sequoia bought at $380 billion this year and still doubled its money.

Even the worst-timed entries worked because Anthropic's valuation kept climbing across every round — from $461 million, to $5 billion, to $183 billion, to $380 billion, to $965 billion.

If the IPO prices toward the reported $2 trillion ceiling, every stake in this group roughly doubles again. That math explains why a public listing this year would rank among the largest single-day windfalls venture capital has ever recorded.