Anthropic’s founders seek voting control ahead of IPO
techcrunch ·
Anthropic's founders are seeking to maintain voting control over the company ahead of its upcoming initial public offering. According to reports, the company plans to ask shareholders to approve a structure granting CEO Dario Amodei and his six co-founders special shares that carry a combined 50.1% of the vote on most corporate matters. This arrangement requires at least three founders to maintain a minimum stake in the organization. While super-voting shares are common among tech leaders like Mark Zuckerberg and Evan Spiegel, this group approach is considered unusual. The seven co-founders currently own only 2% of the company each and have pledged to donate 80% of their wealth to address AI-driven wealth concentration. Although these new shares provide no additional economic value, they ensure the group retains influence once the company trades publicly. Additionally, Anthropic’s Long-Term Benefit Trust will continue to select most board members, while employees will receive stock to help break ties on certain issues.
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