From TechCrunch · Marina Temkin · · 2m
Amazon's $97.9bn windfall from Anthropic IPO dwarfs VC gains
While venture firms make billions on Anthropic's public listing, Amazon's convertible notes position it to capture far more value from the AI company it backed early.
In brief
While venture firms make billions on Anthropic's public listing, Amazon's convertible notes position it to capture far more value from the AI company it backed early. Amazon stands to gain roughly ninety seven point nine billion dollars from Anthropic's IPO through convertible notes, far exceeding returns for venture…
VCs set to make billions on Anthropic IPO
Venture firms including Menlo Ventures, Sequoia, Sound Ventures and Spark Capital are expected to return billions from Anthropic's public listing.
But no VC owns 5% of the company
None of the major venture investors hold five percent or more of Anthropic, the threshold for inclusion in the principal stockholders table. This is highly unusual for a tech IPO.
Anthropic's massive valuation explains the gap
At Anthropic's nine hundred sixty five billion dollar private valuation, a one percent stake is worth nearly ten billion dollars. Menlo's roughly fourteen billion dollar position is only about one point five percent.
Amazon structured its investment as convertible notes
Amazon first backed Anthropic in two thousand twenty three with a commitment to invest up to four billion dollars. Instead of taking stock upfront, Amazon structured much of its investment as convertible debt.
Amazon's notes valued at $97.9 billion
Amazon holds convertible notes with six point two billion dollars in principal outstanding as of June thirty. Amazon's own filings valued its note holdings at ninety seven point nine billion dollars as of June thirty.
Amazon's total investment reaches $18 billion
Amazon invested ten billion dollars in nonvoting preferred stock in the second quarter. Combined with eight billion dollars invested in notes from two thousand twenty three through two thousand twenty five, Amazon's total investment is…
Amazon also earns revenue from cloud deals
Beyond stock gains, Amazon will earn significant revenue from Anthropic, which has committed to spend at least one hundred ten billion dollars on AWS over the next ten years.
Google also positioned for major windfall
Google held about fourteen percent of Anthropic as of early last year and has invested more since, including ten billion dollars in April.
Tech giants emerge as biggest IPO winners
The S-one makes clear that the biggest winners of Anthropic's IPO may well be tech giants like Amazon, which backed a would-be rival early and now sell it much of the computing power it runs…
At a glance
Amazon stands to gain roughly ninety seven point nine billion dollars from Anthropic's IPO through convertible notes, far exceeding returns for venture capital firms despite their early backing.
