On October 23, 2026, data compiled from the venture capital market revealed that Anthropic’s public listing plans are generating massive paper returns for both early-stage and late-stage investors. Even as the initial public offering (IPO) is anticipated to reach a target valuation of $2 trillion in its IPO, the assets held by the research lab’s backers already amount to billions of dollars based on its most recent private market valuation of $965 billion.
This surge in valuation mirrors the massive influx of capital into the AI race, even as companies continue to shoulder enormous computing infrastructure costs to remain competitive.
Billion-Dollar Checks from Top Venture Funds
According to reports from Bloomberg and TechCrunch, investment firm Coatue, which first backed Anthropic in 2025 at a $183 billion valuation and co-led its two most recent funding rounds, has deployed a total of $4.75 billion. Based on the pricing from the latest valuation round, those shares are now worth approximately $7.5 billion.
The list of biggest beneficiaries also includes a number of major financial institutions and prominent individual investors:
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Iconiq: The investment firm wrote a check of up to $6 billion for Anthropic last year when the company was valued at $183 billion. That bold late-stage bet now carries a book value of $17 billion and could potentially double if the listing goes smoothly.
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Menlo Ventures: The firm that led the Series D round has amassed more than $1 billion in invested capital across multiple rounds and currently holds a stake valued at around $14 billion.
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Eric Schmidt: The former Google CEO joined in as early as the Series A round in 2021 when Anthropic was valued at just $461 million. With roughly a 1% stake remaining, his holdings are now worth nearly $10 billion.
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Sequoia Capital: Although it only joined earlier this year at a $380 billion valuation, its $3 billion investment for a 1% stake has already more than doubled in value.
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Spark Capital: The only venture capital firm with a seat on Anthropic’s board of directors committed $75 million during the Series C round in 2023 at a $5 billion valuation. That modest initial investment has multiplied by more than 90 times, reaching $7 billion.
The Gap Between Paper Profits and Actual Liquidity
Multi-fold return figures are the most captivating highlight of this artificial intelligence boom. However, all of these valuations currently remain confined to the accounting ledgers of venture capital funds, rather than realized cash gains.
The liquidity question will only truly be resolved when Anthropic officially rings the opening bell on the stock exchange and clears the insider lock-up period. Until then, whether public markets are prepared to absorb such a massive volume of shares at a multi-trillion-dollar valuation remains a major question for both Wall Street and Silicon Valley.