FTX Gets Two Dozen Buyers to Sell Majority of its Stake in Anthropic for $884 Million

FTX is looking to sell a majority of its shares in artificial intelligence startup Anthropic to over 20 buyers, including an Abu Dhabi investment company and Jane Street Global.

The sale could provide ample funds for the bankrupt crypto exchange to repay creditors affected by FTX’s collapse.

FTX to Sell Over 29 Million Shares from its Anthropic Stake

According to court documents on March 22, FTX would sell approximately 29.5 million shares in Anthropic to a total of 24 purchasers for $884,109,327.

Topping the list of buyers is ATIC Third Investment Company LLC, which would purchase 16,664,167 shares for nearly $500 million. ATIC is a wholly-owned firm of the government-owned Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund, Mubadala.

Jane Street Global, a global quantitative trading company where convicted FTX founder and former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried previously worked as a trader, will buy 3.3 million shares for almost $100 million.

Other purchasers include certain funds managed by Fidelity Management and Research, which will spend $45 million to buy approximately 1.5 million shares, Craig Falls, and the Ford Foundation, among others.

While the proposed sale is subject to the approval of the bankruptcy court, any objections should be filed by April 1, 2024.

More Funds to Repay FTX Creditors

In 2021, FTX made a $500 million investment in Anthropic, giving the bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange a 7.8% stake in the AI startup.

FTX’s investment more than doubled in value in 2023 to around $1.4 billion after Anthropic’s value also skyrocketed, coupled with increased interest in the artificial intelligence sector. In February 2024, FTX got court clearance to sell its stake in Anthropic, which was previously halted in June 2023.

In addition to the proceeds that would come from the proposed sale of the Anthropic shares, FTX also has $6.4 billion in its reserves. The funds could make it possible for creditors of the collapsed crypto firm to get repaid in full.

In contrast to its profitable Anthropic investment, FTX’s proposed sale of one of its subsidiaries Digital Custody will come at a significant loss.

The cryptocurrency exchange purchased Digital Custody for $10 million. However, following the exchange’s collapse in November 2022, the subsidiary would be sold for $500,000 to CoinList, whose CEO, Terrence Culver, initially made the sale to FTX.