FTX wants to unload $1.4B Anthropic stake

A hearing on the motion to sell the stake is set for Feb. 22

February 5, 2024 09:34 am

FTX co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried | Getty Images modified by Blockworks

The FTX debtors are seeking to sell off its stake in Anthropic.

The artificial intelligence company is a rival to the likes of OpenAI. Former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried made a $500 million investment in the company through Alameda and FTX, putting the estate’s stake around 8%.

Anthropic sought to raise $750 million last December, putting its valuation at around $18 billion. By those numbers, the investment would be worth around $1.4 billion.

“Given the significant number and value of Anthropic Shares held by the Debtors, the flexibility to sell all or portions of Anthropic Shares at different times, and by different means, will help the Debtors monetize their interest,” a court document from Friday said.

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The motion will be heard on Feb. 22 at a hearing.

If approved, then the debtors will start selling shares of Anthropic at “optimal and appropriate” times following Anthropic’s “capital raising efforts.”

This would benefit “all stakeholders.” If the motion is approved, debtors will also create sale procedures for the stake.

Last week, lawyers representing FTX told a bankruptcy court that the estate scrapped plans to reboot the exchange after it failed to find a buyer who could take on the relaunch.

A lawyer for the estate, Andrew Dierderich, said “no investor is ready to commit the needed capital to a restart of the offshore exchange. Nor has a buyer emerged for that exchange.” Last year, roughly 75 bidders were contacted.

However, he added that FTX still has “valuable customer data and information to monetize.”

Back in September, Amazon said it planned to invest up to $4 billion in the AI company, which would give the tech behemoth a minority stake in Anthropic.

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