Anthropic plans to grant 50.1% voting power to seven founders ahead of IPO

Anthropic is seeking shareholder approval for a special equity structure that would grant CEO Dario Amodei and six other co-founders a combined 50.1% voting stake to maintain control post-IPO. The proposal requires at least three founders to retain a minimum shareholding. While the founders currently hold approximately 2% each, the new structure provides additional voting rights without extra economic benefits. Additionally, the company's long-term benefit trust will continue to elect the majority of the board, while founder board seats will increase from two to three. Anthropic, valued at $96.5 billion in May, has seen its secondary market valuation rise to approximately $1.5 trillion, which is expected to serve as a benchmark for its upcoming IPO.