Technology companies are increasingly going public while trying to preserve founders’ control over business strategy. Such structures have long been familiar to investors through the largest digital platforms, and the development of AI adds a new level of complexity to them. Companies are creating products that are gradually integrating into the payment infrastructure and services of players like Stripe, but at the same time, they require hundreds of billions of dollars in investment in computing power. Anthropic is planning to solve this dilemma in a rather radical way — by raising a record amount of capital on the stock exchange while retaining effective control in the hands of the founders.
After the IPO, Dario Amodei and six other co‑founders of Anthropic will be able to control 50.1% of the votes on the most strategically important decisions. To achieve this, the company plans to create a special class of shares with enhanced voting rights. Control will be maintained as long as at least three founders own the established minimum number of such shares.
This would create an unusual structure, as investors may invest around $100 billion in Anthropic as part of what could become the largest tech IPO, valuing the company at $2 trillion, while their ability to influence its strategy would remain limited. At the same time, the founders’ powers would not extend to determining the composition of the board of directors, and certain privileged rights are planned to be granted to employees as well.
For Anthropic, maintaining control is especially important given the potential tension between commercial interests and AI safety. Dario Amodei publicly acknowledged the possibility of voluntarily slowing down model development and conducting independent technology audits. Following his statement, the CEOs of OpenAI and xAI expressed support for his view. Shortly afterward, OpenAI halted the training of some new models that had exhibited uncontrolled behavior. Taken together, these developments heightened existing concerns, sending Dow futures and other index futures lower.
After the IPO, such decisions could potentially conflict with the short‑term interests of shareholders, so a special voting structure would give the founders the opportunity to pursue long‑term policies without the risk of losing control under market pressure.
The financial indicators so far could support strong investor interest in Anthropic. In the second quarter, revenue grew 14‑fold to $11.5 billion, and the company reported an adjusted operating profit. The current quarter is expected to be the second consecutive profitable one. Excluding expenses for cloud infrastructure, model training, and some other costs, the profit margin exceeds 80%.
The growth in projected annual revenue is particularly impressive. At the end of last year, it barely exceeded $9 billion. By the end of July, it had reached $65 billion, and by the end of this year, it may surpass $100-120 billion. It is the third quarter that Anthropic expects to present to investors ahead of the anticipated November IPO, potentially confirming that growth is sustained even amid increasing competition.
The main contrast is with OpenAI. The company has so far declined to go public, but its capital needs are significantly higher. Between 2026 and 2030, OpenAI’s negative cash flow could amount to $278 billion, despite expected growth in annual revenue from $36 billion to $350 billion. Total revenue for this period is projected at $840 billion, while the company intends to spend about $856 billion on developing its computing infrastructure alone.
Even the $122 billion raised by OpenAI in March, according to its own calculations, will only last until 2028. Therefore, even before a potential IPO, the company is preparing a new investment round that could increase its valuation from $852 billion to $1.2 trillion. For Anthropic, this creates an additional challenge. The two companies are effectively competing not only for users and computing power but also for the same pool of global investment capital.
Against this backdrop, Anthropic IPO will serve as a test of two things at once. First, whether the market is ready to value a rapidly growing AI developer at $2 trillion. Second, whether investors will agree to invest around $100 billion in a company whose strategic control will effectively remain with the seven founders.
From a financial perspective, Anthropic is approaching its stock market debut in a more attractive position than many of its competitors. Revenue is growing severalfold, and operating breakeven has already been achieved. However, a valuation of $2 trillion makes maintaining such growth rates virtually a prerequisite. After the IPO, investors will have to rely not so much on their ability to influence Anthropic’s strategy as on the expectation that Amodei and his team will be able to maintain technological leadership, control costs, and turn the current AI boom into sustainable cash flow.