Anthropic is asking shareholders to approve special shares for its seven co-founders, The Information reported on September 24. Together they would hold 50.1% of the vote on most company matters. The control would last as long as at least three founders keep a minimum stake. Anthropic has not commented.
New to this? Read it in simple words
- Anthropic makes the AI assistant Claude and is getting ready to sell shares on the stock market.
- A report says its seven founders want 50.1% of the votes, although each owns only about 2%.
- A special trust would still choose most members of the company’s board.
- Anthropic has not commented on the report.
- Shareholder
- A person or company that owns part of a company through its shares.
- IPO
- Initial public offering: when a company first sells its shares on a stock market.
- Board
- A small group of people who oversee a company and its leaders.
A majority for seven people
Under the plan, chief executive Dario Amodei and his six co-founders would get a special class of shares. Together, those shares would carry 50.1% of the vote on most corporate matters.
The new shares carry no extra economic value, TechCrunch reports. The co-founders reportedly own only about 2% of the company each.
The control would last as long as at least three of the seven keep a minimum number of shares. No report has given that number.
According to The Information, Anthropic wants shareholders to approve the plan in the coming days.
Reported by The Information. Anthropic has not commented.
What stays outside their control
The founders would not control the election of board members, Reuters reports. Anthropic’s board has seven seats, and one of them is empty.
Anthropic’s Long-Term Benefit Trust would still choose most of the board, according to TechCrunch. The founders’ own seats would grow from two to three.
Employees would also get their own class of shares. It would act as a tie-breaker on some company decisions.
The Information compares the plan to Palantir, whose founders kept voting control after it listed in 2020. TechCrunch points to founders with extra votes at Meta and Snap, and says the unusual part is the group approach.
Why the listing matters
Anthropic raised $65 billion at a valuation of $965 billion in May, Reuters reports. Reuters has also reported that the listing could come after the US midterm elections in November.
Shares with extra votes are common in tech. They protect founders from outside pressure, but they also give other shareholders less say.
In January, Amodei wrote that all of Anthropic’s co-founders have pledged to give away 80% of their wealth. The voting plan does not change their economic stake.
Sources
Every fact in this story comes from the sources below. Open them to check our work.
- 1Research · September 25, 2026Anthropic seeks 50.1% voting control for co-founders ahead of IPO Reuters via Business Standard
- 2
- 3Research · September 25, 2026Anthropic seeks 50.1% voting control for founders, The Information reports The Next Web
The original report by The Information is behind a paywall, so we compared how Reuters, TechCrunch, and The Next Web described it. They agree on the main points. Anthropic has not confirmed the plan, and the size of the minimum stake has not been reported.