FTX to Sell Shares in Claude AI Developer Anthropic for $884 Million

In a major move to make financial amends to people and businesses that suffered losses in the catastrophic collapse of FTX, the failed crypto exchange has agreed to sell its 29.4 million shares of AI developer Anthropic. Revealed in court documents filed Friday, the combined Anthropic shares had a total value $884,109,327.

U. S. Federal Judge John Dorsey approved plans last month to finally sell the shares in a motion filed in the U.S. Bankruptcy in Delaware.

According to court documents, the shares are being bought by a diverse group, including ATIC Third International Investment Company, Jane Street Global Trading, and funds managed by Fidelity Management & Research Company. The top bidder, ATIC Third International Investment Company, is purchasing 16,664,167 shares for $500 million.

The array of buyers extends to The Ford Foundation and Picton Mahoney Asset Management. Anthropic itself is included in the list of more than 20 entities vying for shares in the company in a potential bid to buy back its own shares.

The list of Anthropopic-related buyers includes MW LSVC Anthropic, LLC, Anthropic Pine Road LLC, Hiive Anthropic Series I, a Series of Hiive Anthropic, LLC, Hiive Anthropic Series II, a Series of Hiive Anthropic, LLC, and ID Fund—Anthropic Series of ID Funds 3 LLC. The group bought 1.6 million shares worth $47.8 million, respectively.

Anthropic did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Decrypt.

Speculation around when FTX would attempt to sell its $500 million stake in Anthropic began last summer after a federal judge overseeing the FTX bankruptcy signed off on letting FTX sell off some of its assets to repay creditors as soon as January.

Exactly when FTX would sell emerged as a question when reports surfaced that the exchange was looking to offload its shares in the OpenAI rival. Later that same month, FTX halted its sale of the shares without notice.

Other assets that FTX has sold include derivatives trading platform LedgerX for $50 million, representing a considerable loss compared to the $300 million the crypto exchange paid for it in 2021. Also liquidated were $3.4 billion in Solana, Ethereum, and Bitcoin.