Anthropic’s IPO could top $100B, dwarfing SpaceX record

Anthropic, the maker of the Claude AI assistant, is preparing what could become the largest initial public offering in history, with bankers suggesting to potential investors that the company could raise more than $100 billion on the strength of an enterprise value approaching $2 trillion, according to the New York Times as cited by multiple outlets.bebeez

The company is expected to unveil its IPO prospectus shortly after the Labor Day holiday on September 7, with a possible Wall Street listing between late September and early October. Morgan Stanley ↘ 0.55%, JPMorgan ↘ 0.84%, Citigroup ↗ 0.51%, and Goldman Sachs The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. ↘ 0.36% are leading the placement.bloomberg+2

A Record-Breaking Debut in the Making

If the deal reaches the scale bankers are projecting, it would surpass SpaceX's record $86.2 billion IPO earlier this year. Anthropic filed a confidential draft registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission on June 1, and the company's valuation trajectory has been steep: a $380 billion post-money valuation after its Series G round in February climbed to $965 billion following a $65 billion Series H raise in late May. In mid-August, six investors told the Financial Times that the company's listing could be worth $2 trillion.tech-insider+3

The revenue growth underpinning these figures has been striking. Anthropic's annualized revenue run-rate exceeded $65 billion at the end of July, up from around $9 billion at the end of 2025. The company is reportedly forecasting revenues of $190 billion to $200 billion for 2028, figures that bankers and investors are using to assess the IPO valuation against comparables such as Palantir ↗ 3.48%, Cloudflare ↗ 9.91%, and SpaceX.bebeez

Crowding the IPO Calendar

The sheer size of Anthropic's planned offering is already reshaping the fall listing calendar. Bloomberg reported that other companies preparing U.S. listings are scrambling to find room for their deals to attract attention in the shadow of Anthropic's mega-IPO. The company is also considering allowing current shareholders to sell part of their stakes through the offering while requiring new investors to sign lock-ups longer than the customary 180 days.bloomberg+1

Governance remains a sensitive issue. The Information reported that Anthropic is preparing a new class of shares with enhanced voting rights for co-founders Dario and Daniela Amodei. The company's Long-Term Benefit Trust, an independent body with the power to appoint board members, is expected to remain central to its governance structure. Former Federal Reserve Chair Ben Bernanke joined the trust in July.bebeez

Stakes Beyond Wall Street

The IPO process is unfolding alongside unresolved tensions with the Pentagon. On August 27, a federal judge ruled in Anthropic's favor, finding that a Pentagon designation of the company as a supply-chain risk was unlawful. A second case remains pending in Washington. Meanwhile, Meta ↗ 0.84% has emerged as one of Anthropic's largest customers, at one point internally projecting it could spend as much as $10 billion a year on Anthropic's models, according to the New York Times.thenextweb+1

"It's like watching dueling generals compete on the battlefield. Everybody's gunning to try and destabilize that I.P.O," said Tomasz Tunguz, an investor at Theory Ventures.thenextweb