Anthropic files for IPO under proposed Nasdaq ticker ANT

Anthropic, the company behind Claude, filed a public Form S-1 registration statement with the US Securities and Exchange Commission on 26 October for a proposed initial public offering. It has applied to list Class A common stock on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under ANT, according to its announcement and filing.

The filing also sets out how voting power would work after the offering. A company owned by Anthropic’s seven co-founders would hold 50.1% of general shareholder voting power, while the Long-Term Benefit Trust would generally choose a majority of board directors through a separate share class.

Anthropic is proposing a sale of Class A shares

Anthropic and existing shareholders plan to sell Class A common stock in the IPO. Proceeds from the company’s new shares would go to Anthropic; proceeds from existing shareholders’ sales would go to those sellers.

Each Class A share carries one vote. The company says the number of shares to be offered and the proposed price range are still to be determined. The registration statement must become effective before shares can be sold under it.

The SEC describes a registration statement as a filing that makes required disclosures about a security or offering. It commonly includes a prospectus describing the company, its securities and the proposed transaction.

Founders would hold 50.1% of general voting power

Immediately before the offering completes, Anthropic would issue one Class F share to a Founder LLC owned initially by its seven co-founders, including Dario and Daniela Amodei.

That share would carry 50.1% of total voting power on decisions put to shareholders generally, including director elections other than the Class T directors. The filing therefore distinguishes general shareholder votes from the trust’s special board-election rights.

The benefit trust would generally elect most directors

The Long-Term Benefit Trust holds Class T stock. Under the structure described in the S-1, those rights would generally let it elect and remove Class T directors who together make up a majority of the authorised board.

Anthropic introduced the trust in 2023 as an independent body intended to give its public-benefit mission a place in corporate governance. Its stated purpose is the responsible development and maintenance of advanced AI for humanity’s long-term benefit.

The two routes serve different decisions: the Founder LLC’s Class F share controls a majority of general shareholder votes, while Class T gives the trust its board-election powers.

The public filing follows June’s confidential submission

Anthropic submitted its confidential draft S-1 on 1 June. At the time, it said the submission gave it the option to go public after SEC review, with an offering dependent on market conditions and other factors.

The SEC’s issuer record now lists the public S-1 filed on 26 October. Public investors would receive Class A shares alongside the distinct founder and benefit-trust voting arrangements described in the prospectus.