Early Backers Hold $10 Billion Stakes Ahead of Anthropic IPO

The impending public offering of Anthropic is creating a stark divide in the venture capital landscape, separating those who took early risks from those who arrived late. With a potential valuation reaching $2 trillion, the upcoming IPO promises significant returns. However, the financial disparity between early and late investors is already evident in the private market. At the company's last private valuation of $965 billion, the stakes held by key backers represent billions of dollars in paper wealth, highlighting the massive gains secured by those who invested during the startup's formative years.

Eric Schmidt, the former chief executive of Google, stands as a prominent example of early success. He participated in the Series A round in 2021, a time when PitchBook data indicates the startup was valued at just $461 million. That initial move has granted him approximately 1% of the company. Even without the boost from a public listing, his position is currently valued at nearly $10 billion. This figure underscores how dramatically the asset has appreciated since the early 2020s.

In contrast, later-stage entrants are seeing substantial absolute gains but lower percentage returns. Iconiq, an investment firm, wrote a $6 billion check to Anthropic last year. At that point, the company was already valued at $183 billion. That late-stage bet now stands at $17 billion. While this is a healthy return, analysts suggest it could double once the IPO takes place. The timing of entry clearly dictates the trajectory of the return on investment for these major players.

Menlo Ventures also holds a significant position in the AI lab. The firm led the Series D funding round and has committed more than $1 billion to the company over time. Their current stake is valued at $14 billion. This long-term commitment has yielded strong results, though the firm entered the market after the earliest valuation milestones had already been achieved. Their portfolio value reflects the steady growth of the company through its mid-stage development.

Sequoia Capital entered the picture only earlier this year, at a point where Anthropic was valued at $380 billion. The firm invested $3 billion to secure about 1% ownership. This move has already more than doubled the initial investment. For a firm of Sequoia's stature, entering at such a high valuation still resulted in immediate paper gains, though the multiplier effect is smaller than that of the earliest backers.

Sound Ventures, launched by Guy Oseary and actor Ashton Kutcher, took a different approach. The firm invested $35 million in the 2023 Series C round. It has since injected an additional $400 million into the company. This combined investment has resulted in a stake worth billions today. Notably, Kutcher left Sound Ventures earlier this year to launch a new venture capital firm, but the original investment remains in the portfolio.

The most dramatic multiple belongs to Spark Capital. The firm is known to hold the only board seat at Anthropic. It invested $75 million in the 2023 Series C round, when the company was valued at $5 billion. That position has since ballooned to $7 billion. This represents a more than ninetyfold increase. Such a high multiple is rare in large-scale technology investments and highlights the extreme appreciation of Anthropic's equity in just a few years.

As the company moves toward its expected listing this year, these valuations serve as a snapshot of the private market's enthusiasm. The data shows that while late investors gain billions in absolute terms, early investors gain multiples of their initial outlay. The IPO will likely crystallize these gains, converting paper wealth into liquid assets. For the market, this event represents one of the largest transitions from private to public ownership in recent history.

The coming public offering will test the market's appetite for high-valuation AI companies. The success of the IPO will depend on sustained interest in the sector. For now, the numbers tell a clear story: timing is the most critical factor in venture capital returns. The gap between a $461 million valuation and a $965 billion valuation has created winners at every stage, but the earliest players have seen the most exponential growth.