Anthropic targets 50.1% voting power for co-founders ahead of IPO
Anthropic is seeking shareholder approval for a new corporate structure that would grant CEO Dario Amodei and his six co-founders a collective 50.1% of voting power, as reported by source on Thursday. The new arrangement, which emulates a founder-control structure at Palantir, would award the co-founders a special class of shares granting them collective voting control in most corporate matters. This arrangement would remain in effect as long as three of the seven co-founders maintain a minimum number of shares in the company, according to the report.
One notable exception to the founders’ control is the election of the members on Anthropic’s board, which comprises seven seats, one of which is presently unoccupied, as indicated in the report. The company is also planning to provide employees with a special class of stock that would function as tie-breaker votes on certain corporate matters, according to the report.
Anthropic, regarded for months as the frontrunner in enterprise AI, is gearing up for what may become one of the largest IPOs in history. The company may delay its IPO until after the US midterm elections in November, as the poll is not anticipated to significantly influence the offering, according to a report earlier this month. The Claude maker secured $65 billion at a post-money valuation of $965 billion in May.
