Anthropic to give 5% of shares, about $48bn, to public benefit fund

Anthropic will set aside 5% of its shares for a new fund aimed at the public good, a stake worth roughly $48bn (£36bn) at the company’s most recent valuation, Theguardian reported on Monday. The Claude developer said the commitment is subject to stockholder approval and comes as it prepares to list on the stock market.

Anthropic announced the plan on Sunday, according to Al Jazeera, which named it the Anthropic Public Benefit Fund. Theguardian valued the 5% stake at Anthropic’s May valuation, when the company raised $65bn in a funding round.

Also read: Musk Pledges One SpaceX Share to Every U.S. Child Next Year

Key facts

• Anthropic committed 5% of its shares to the new fund, worth about $48bn at its May valuation (Theguardian).
• A further 2% of stock can be added for every 50% increase in company value above an undisclosed baseline (Theguardian); Al Jazeera reported the additions would be at the board’s discretion.
• Anthropic was valued at $965bn in May and is reportedly weighing a $1.5tn valuation when it floats, with an IPO planned for November (Theguardian).
• The fund is a wholly owned LLC whose equity cannot be used for lobbying or political giving in the US or abroad (Coincentral, Al Jazeera).
• Combined with co-founder pledges of 80% of their equity and an employee donation match, roughly 20% of Anthropic shares will be dedicated to the public good (Coincentral).

How the fund is built

Anthropic said the fund would let it “explore large donations to traditional nonprofits or direct distributions to specific populations,” according to Theguardian. In its blog post the company framed the arrangement as a redirect of the kind of escalating equity awards tech firms often give executives: the larger Anthropic becomes, the larger the share of it that can be aimed at public benefit, Al Jazeera reported.

Coincentral reported that the vehicle is a wholly owned LLC rather than a 501(c)(3), a structure Anthropic said gives it room to switch between forms of giving. Anthropic is registered as a public benefit corporation in Delaware, and its charter requires leadership to weigh shareholder returns against responsible AI development, according to Al Jazeera.

Also read: OpenAI forecasts $50bn revenue, $20bn below its earlier guidance

The company pointed to labour market disruption as one area the fund could address. It has already committed $200m to studying and tackling the issue and said faster AI progress may call for bolder approaches.

Musk’s counter-offer and OpenAI’s talks

Elon Musk, chief executive of Tesla and founder of SpaceX, responded on social media by saying he would rather hand shares straight to the public. According to Theguardian, he wrote that he recommends “giving the shares directly to the public” and said that is what he will do, later pledging one of his SpaceX shares to every child in America next year.

Shares in SpaceX, listed on the Nasdaq, rose 1% in pre-market trading on Monday and have lost about 9% of their value since joining the market in June, Theguardian reported. Theguardian also said OpenAI has reportedly held early talks about giving a 5% stake in its organisation to the US government.

Why it matters

The pledge is a public-facing move by a company asking investors to buy into what could be one of the largest listings on record, at a time of open anxiety about AI’s effects on jobs, the environment and social behaviour. It also sets a template: an AI lab wiring part of its own equity, rather than cash, to a public mission, and scaling that share with its valuation. If OpenAI follows with a government stake, the question of who captures AI’s financial upside moves from think pieces into corporate structure.

What to watch

Stockholder approval is the first gate. Theguardian reported the IPO is planned for November, while Al Jazeera said the listing is expected before the end of 2026 with analysts forecasting a valuation above $2 trillion. Coincentral reported that Anthropic will disclose the valuation milestones that trigger extra shares, along with fund governance, in the coming months and in an upcoming public benefit report.

Anthropic’s valuation plans and the size of the fund are forward-looking and not financial advice; equity markets and IPO pricing are volatile and uncertain.

Written by

Benjamin

Benjamin Carter covers business, finance, and the stock market for StockPil, focusing on the trends and data that matter to everyday investors.

Sources: The Guardian, Aljazeera, Coincentral