Thursday, Sep 24, 2026
1 Anthropic Proposes 50.1% Founder Voting Control Before $1.5T IPO 💼 Business Sep 24, 5:56 PM EDT 36/24
A change in the distribution of voting rights is being put to a shareholder vote at the AI lab. The proposal would award CEO Dario Amodei and six other co-founders a combined 50.1% of the voting power on most corporate matters via a separate LLC, allowing them to retain control regardless of their economic stakes. Amodei currently owns about 2% of the company, and this a new arrangement precedes a targeted public listing with a valuation of at least $1.5T, likely occurring in late October or November.
The new board structure would increase the number of seats held by founders from 2 to 3, though the Long-Term Benefit Trust will continue to oversee most member appointments. Employees may also receive a special class of stock designed to serve as tie-breaker votes on specific issues. This governance shift follows a May valuation of $965B and mirrors a model used by Palantir to entrench founder influence.