Key facts
- Anthropic is asking shareholders to approve a new structure that would give CEO Dario Amodei and his six co-founders special shares.
- The special shares would carry a combined 50.1% of the vote on most corporate matters.
- The founders' voting control is contingent on at least three of them keeping a minimum stake.
- The proposed structure mirrors founder-control arrangements at Meta and Snap.
- Anthropic was valued at $965 billion in May and $1.5 trillion on the secondary market.
Anthropic is seeking shareholder approval for a new corporate structure that would grant its CEO Dario Amodei and his six co-founders collective voting control over most corporate matters, according to a report by The Information. This move mirrors founder-control structures at companies like Meta and Snap.
The proposed arrangement would give the seven co-founders a combined 50.1% of the company's voting power, contingent on at least three of them retaining a minimum number of shares. The founders reportedly own about 2% of the company each and have pledged to give away 80% of their wealth. The new shares carry no extra economic value but would preserve the group's control once the company begins trading publicly.
Anthropic's Long-Term Benefit Trust would still choose most of the board, while the founders' board seats would increase from two to three. Employees would receive their own stock to break ties on certain issues. The five-year-old company was valued at $965 billion in May and recently traded at $1.5 trillion on the secondary market, with its upcoming IPO expected to reflect this new valuation.