Anthropic’s founders are seeking greater voting control of the company ahead of its planned initial public offering (IPO). According to The Information, CEO Dario Amodei and his six co-founders are asking shareholders to approve a new share structure that could give the group 50.1% of the voting power on most corporate matters.
The proposed structure would use special shares with higher voting rights. The founders would not receive additional economic value from these shares, but the arrangement could allow them to maintain control after Anthropic becomes a publicly traded company.
The plan reportedly requires at least three of the seven founders to maintain a minimum ownership stake. Amodei and the other co-founders are said to own around 2% each of the company.
Super-voting shares are already used by several major technology companies. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Snap co-founder Evan Spiegel have used similar structures to maintain significant voting control of their companies after going public.
Anthropic’s proposal has some additional features. The company’s Long-Term Benefit Trust would continue to have a role in selecting most members of the board. The number of founder board seats would reportedly increase from two to three. Employees would also receive a separate class of stock that could help break ties on certain corporate decisions.
The voting structure comes as Anthropic prepares for a potential IPO following a sharp increase in its valuation. The company was reportedly valued at $965 billion in May, while a recent secondary-market transaction placed its valuation at around $1.5 trillion.
The move would allow Anthropic’s founders to retain significant influence while the company transitions to public ownership. However, the final structure will depend on shareholder approval and the details of the IPO.
