Just over two years after joining Anthropic as its first chief financial officer, Indian-origin executive Krishna Rao holds an equity stake in the artificial intelligence company valued at about $703 million, according to calculations based on its latest IPO filing.
Rao beneficially owns nearly 9.5 million shares, including shares underlying exercisable stock options, according to the filing. The estimate is based on the $74 midpoint of Anthropic's proposed IPO price range of $70 to $78 per share, before accounting for stock option exercise costs. Rao, however, is not selling any shares in the offering.
Known for maintaining a low public profile, Rao has been central to Anthropic's fundraising efforts and early IPO preparations. He is also playing an active role in the company's ongoing roadshow, meeting prospective investors at events hosted by Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs, ahead of its planned public market debut next week, according to The New York Times.
Other Indian-origin executives at Anthropic, including chief technology officer Rahul Patil, could also see substantial gains from what is poised to be one of the largest IPOs in history. However, Anthropic has not disclosed their individual equity holdings in its IPO filing.
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Anthropic, the maker of the Claude AI chatbot, is seeking to raise as much as $90.4 billion at a potential valuation of about $1.4 trillion through its initial public offering and a private placement involving technology giants including Google, Microsoft, AMD, Nvidia, Broadcom, Micron, and TSMC.
Anthropic's seven co-founders, including chief executive Dario Amodei and his sister Daniela Amodei, are set to sell shares worth about $250 million each in the IPO, taking their combined share sales to approximately $1.75 billion, while retaining stakes valued at roughly $18 billion apiece at the midpoint of the proposed price range.
Anthropic's IPO comes at a volatile moment for the technology sector, with a sharp selloff in AI-related stocks and growing concerns over the billions of dollars being poured into computing infrastructure.
Shifting political dynamics following the Democrats' recent electoral victories in the U.S. and the controversy involving Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang have added to the uncertainty in the sector.
