Anthropic IPO Could Turn SK Telecom's $200 Million Into $5.5 Billion

By Grace Kim

SK Telecom's stake in Anthropic could be worth an estimated 7.26 trillion won if the AI startup hits its reported $2 trillion IPO valuation — more than double the 3.51 trillion won book value the Korean carrier recorded at the end of June.

Anthropic, the developer of the Claude AI chatbot, filed for an initial public offering with the US Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday, targeting a Nasdaq debut under the ticker "ANT" as early as November. The startup is reportedly seeking to raise as much as $100 billion, a figure that would surpass SpaceX's record $75 billion IPO in June. The filing did not disclose the number of shares to be offered or a proposed price range.

The listing would make Anthropic the first major frontier AI model developer to go public, ahead of ChatGPT maker OpenAI.

How much has SK Telecom put in?

SK Telecom invested $100 million in Anthropic in August 2023, when the startup carried a $5 billion valuation, and established a strategic partnership alongside the deal. It went back for more in the first half of this year, acquiring another 157,189 shares for roughly $100 million.

The positions have already swelled. The book value of SK Telecom's Anthropic holdings stood at 1.38 trillion won at the end of last year. By June 30, it had reached 3.51 trillion won ($2.65 billion).

The math is simple: a $2 trillion IPO valuation implies a stake worth about 7.26 trillion won.

SK Telecom says it isn't selling. "We will continue to strengthen our role in the global AI ecosystem as an AI infrastructure company through our partnership with Anthropic," an SK Telecom official told The Korea Herald. CEO Jung Jai-hun struck the same note at a press conference in Tokyo in June, emphasizing continued investment and cooperation over cashing out.

The partnership reaches beyond the balance sheet. The two companies have jointly developed a large language model tailored to the telecommunications industry, and Anthropic's recent opening of a Seoul office could deepen cooperation in AI infrastructure and enterprise services.

Takeaway: SK Telecom is treating Anthropic as a strategic asset, not a trading gain.

Who else in Korea wins?

Naver invested about 10 billion won in Anthropic through an outside venture capital firm via its US investment arm, Naver Ventures, in the second half of last year. The Korean internet giant has since rolled out Anthropic's Claude Code coding agent across its development teams, pairing it with its proprietary HyperClova X model in a multi-model AI strategy.

LG CNS invested in Anthropic through LG Technology Ventures in 2023. In June, the IT services provider signed an agreement to adopt Claude Enterprise, Anthropic's enterprise AI platform, as it pushes to expand its AI transformation business.

Samsung Electronics and SK hynix also reportedly invested at least 1 trillion won each in Anthropic in May. Industry observers see those bets as part of a broader push by the Korean chipmakers to widen their AI partnerships beyond semiconductor supply into software and AI agents.

Takeaway: the money is spread across Korea's telecom, internet, IT services and chip sectors.

What does the IPO actually change?

For these companies, a public Anthropic offers more than a paper return. A successful debut would strengthen the startup's ability to invest in AI infrastructure and expand enterprise services — which could open new business for its Korean partners.

But the gains aren't automatic. The scale of any windfall depends on Anthropic's final IPO valuation and how the shares trade afterward. Higher valuations won't necessarily translate into immediate profits, particularly for companies like SK Telecom that plan to keep holding.

Until the pricing terms land, Korea's Anthropic investors are sitting on the region's largest AI-linked mark-up — one they've chosen, so far, not to touch.