Anthropic is preparing for an IPO as early as late September, with projections for a $2 trillion valuation, making it potentially the largest public market debut ever. This IPO will bring its unusual governance structure under scrutiny. The company plans to grant CEO Dario Amodei and its six co-founders a new class of super-voting stock, giving them enhanced control despite Amodei owning only about 2% of the company due to extensive fundraising.
Adding to this unique structure is Anthropic's Long-Term Benefit Trust (LTBT). This independent body, currently composed of three trustees (Neil Buddy Shah, Richard Fontaine, and Nobel laureate Ben Bernanke), holds a special class of Class T shares. These shares have no economic value but grant the trust the authority to elect a growing number, and ultimately a majority, of Anthropic's seven board members. This means the three-person trust, which holds no equity, will have more direct power over the board than either the founders or public shareholders.
The LTBT was established in September 2023 with five trustees, but its membership has changed, most recently shrinking from four to three on August 4, 2026, when Mariano-Florentino Cuéllar joined Anthropic's executive team. The trust's independence is key; trustees are compensated only for their time and service and hold no Anthropic equity, aiming to remove financial incentives that could complicate governance. This structure, which some analysts suggest could act as a competitive moat, aims to prioritize responsible AI development over short-term stock performance, a potential concern for public investors.
Anthropic has raised over $85 billion in venture capital since its 2021 founding, including a $65 billion Series H round in May 2026 at a $965 billion post-money valuation. Major investors like Google and Amazon, despite significant financial stakes (Amazon gained $16.8 billion in pre-tax profits from its stake in Q1 2026), are contractually barred from governance influence or board seats. The company, a Delaware Public Benefit Corporation, is projected to post its first quarterly operating profit in Q2 or Q3 2026 and expects $17 billion in free cash flow by 2028 with gross margins near 77%. It filed its confidential S-1 with the SEC on June 1, 2026, and a public prospectus is expected in late summer or early fall. Goldman, Morgan Stanley, and JPMorgan are the lead underwriters for the offering.
