Anthropic is considering, according to a report by the trade service The Information, allowing existing shareholders to sell their own shares for the first time in the planned IPO. The prospectus is expected to be published after the US holiday Labor Day on September 7, with the initial listing anticipated for late September or early October. Bankers are discussing a valuation of $1.5 to $2 trillion for the IPO.
Shareholders sell for the first time in their own IPO
The structure discussed among investment banks combines newly issued shares, which bring fresh capital to Anthropic, with a selling portion of already existing shareholders. It is still unclear who exactly will be allowed to sell – early investors, executives, or a broader group of employees. The Information could not confirm the extent of this share. This construction distinguishes Anthropic from the previous IPOs of SpaceX and Cerebras Systems, which issued only new shares in 2026. In contrast, during the tech IPOs of CoreWeave and Figma, existing shareholders also sold shares.
To distribute the price pressure after the initial listing, Anthropic is also considering holding periods of more than the usual 180 days for at least some shareholders. Regular employees are reportedly only allowed to sell their shares through pre-established trading plans instead of during the usual time windows after quarterly results. These measures are intended to limit the expected price fluctuations after the stock market launch following the recent steep growth. Anthropic did not comment on the reports when approached by the news agency Reuters.
Timeline and valuation depend on growth rate
Anthropic plans to publish the stock market prospectus after September 7 and is organizing an investor day in mid-September before the actual listing. The initial listing itself could therefore take place in late September or early October – a similar timeframe to the investor meetings that Anthropic already held in July. Bankers are now talking about a possible valuation between $1.5 and $2 trillion. In May 2026, a private funding round had valued the company at $965 billion. Six investors had previously named at least $2 trillion as a target, with one even considering $3 trillion possible – it remains unverified what valuation will actually materialize. The basis is also the recently significantly increased annualized revenue rate, with which Anthropic aims to grow to $190 to $200 billion by 2028, according to an earlier revenue forecast. An issuance volume exceeding the $86 billion from SpaceX’s IPO in June is considered likely, making Anthropic’s listing the largest of the year so far. The company is thus also in the race with rival OpenAI, which has not yet announced its own IPO date.
It will be crucial whether Anthropic confirms the unusual structure with the official prospectus or discards it in the final planning – details about IPOs often change during this phase. If the model prevails, it could also become a benchmark for other AI companies with upcoming IPOs like OpenAI, showing how early investors and employees can cash out after years of illiquid shares.
