The FTX estate has liquidated its remaining shares in Anthropic, the artificial intelligence (AI) company renowned for the Claude chatbot.
According to the latest bankruptcy filings, the FTX estate sold 15 million Anthropic shares at $30 each, netting over $452 million.
G Squared Takes Lead in Purchase
According to court documents, venture capital fund manager G Squared emerged as the top buyer, acquiring 4.5 million shares for approximately $135 million.
Other notable buyers included Fund FG-BLU and over a dozen hedge funds and investment firms.
This recent sale follows a previous transaction from two months ago when FTX sold a significant portion of its Anthropic holdings, also at $30 per share, mainly to investors based in Abu Dhabi.
The earlier transaction generated approximately $900 million, contributing to total proceeds from these sales reaching around $1.3 billion.
One of the significant buyers in the initial sale was ATIC Third International Investment Company LLC, affiliated with the UAE’s sovereign wealth fund Mubadala. They acquired nearly $500 million worth of FTX’s Anthropic shares.
This sale, similar to the recent one, was disclosed through filings in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware.
FTX Creditor Repayment Outlook Positive
FTX officials express optimism regarding creditor repayment, citing the estate’s reported cash reserves of approximately $6.4 billion.
Among the most valuable assets in FTX’s portfolio were the Anthropic shares. In 2021, the now-bankrupt crypto exchange Alameda initially invested $500 million for an 8% stake in Anthropic.
Before launching FTX, disgraced entrepreneur Sam Bankman-Fried founded the trading firm Alameda Research. He traded billions of dollars from FTX accounts and utilized the exchange’s native token as collateral.
Both companies filed for bankruptcy in November 2022. Bankman-Fried received a 25-year prison sentence.
Subsequently, the rapid expansion of the AI sector led to an increase in the value of Anthropic shares, generating over $800 million in profits for the bankrupt exchange.
Anthropic’s valuation soared even further after securing funding from Google in late 2022. Reports indicate that Google invested around $300 million in the AI startup as it positioned itself to compete with Microsoft and OpenAI in the fiercely competitive artificial intelligence industry.
The opportunity to sell the shares arose following the U.S. Bankruptcy Court’s approval on Feb. 22 of FTX’s request to divest from Anthropic, with the shares’ value having more than doubled since the initial investment.
This development heralded a new phase in the exchange’s efforts to reimburse creditors.
Bankman-Fried initially invested in Anthropic in 2021, granting the exchange an equity stake of nearly 14%. However, subsequent fundraising rounds by the AI company resulted in the dilution of FTX’s stake, reducing it to 7.84%.
The sale encountered resistance from FTX customers, who contended that the shares were acquired with misused funds. Eventually, they relented under the stipulation that they could potentially reclaim the proceeds at a later time.
Initially, the crypto exchange attempted to sell its Anthropic shares in June 2023, but the effort was halted. However, these recent sales mark a substantial stride toward addressing the company’s financial commitments.
As events progress, former customers and investors anticipate that the proceeds from these sales will be pivotal in the exchange’s endeavors to settle debts and navigate through its bankruptcy proceedings.
In the interim, Anthropic collaborates with Amazon.com Inc., which has invested a minimum of $4 billion in the company.
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