Anthropic seeks 50.1% voting control for its seven co-founders ahead of an IPO
The Information reported on September 25 that Anthropic is asking shareholders to approve special shares giving CEO Dario Amodei and six co-founders 50.1% of the vote as long as at least three keep a set stake, while its Long-Term Benefit Trust keeps the right to appoint most directors.
Anthropic is asking shareholders to approve a new corporate structure that would give CEO Dario Amodei and his six co-founders collective voting control over most company matters after it goes public, The Information reported on September 25.
The facts
- The plan: the seven founders would get a special class of shares. As long as at least three of them hold a required number of shares, together they’d control 50.1% of the vote. Per Jiqizhixin’s summary, the shares carry no extra economic rights.
- The model: the report says the structure borrows from Palantir’s founder voting trust.
- Current stakes: public information puts Amodei’s stake at about 2%, with the other co-founders at similar levels. The founders have pledged to give away 80% of their wealth.
- Checks: the Long-Term Benefit Trust would keep the right to appoint a majority of the board, and the founders’ board nominations would rise from two to three. The report also says Anthropic plans a special employee share class to break ties on key votes.
- All of this comes from reporting citing people familiar with the plan; Anthropic hasn’t confirmed it publicly.
Our take
This is a public benefit corporation built around a long-term trust, planning ahead for who decides once public-market investors arrive wanting growth and margins, while it wants room to keep spending on safety research and compute.
Governance sounds remote for a customer, but it shapes whether model roadmaps and usage policies stay consistent; this week’s Pentagon ruling is an example. The plan still needs shareholder approval, and the final terms will show up in the IPO filing.