Bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX is preparing to sell its most important remaining illiquid asset, its 8% stake in valuable AI startup Anthropic. Anthropic received a $500 million investment in October 2021 from Sam Bankman-Fried, former CEO of FTX.
The company, now led by CEO John Ray III, filed a motion asking a judge to approve FTX’s sale of its stake in Anthropic. The company also separately filed a motion to shorten the review period for the sale application so that it can be heard at the Bankruptcy Court’s next hearing on February 22. The deadline to object to the application is February 15.
The filing discloses the exact size of Anthropic’s stake held by FTX (7.84%) and identifies the two main procedures by which the stake could be sold: an auction or a private sale. FTX’s attorneys moved to revise the desired price for Anthropic stock, arguing that “disclosure of the reference price could be detrimental to the Debtor’s goal of obtaining higher and better offers for Anthropic stock.”
Anthropic’s most recently reported valuation stood at $18 billion as of December 2023, which would value its FTX stake at approximately $1.4 billion. The value of Anthropic stock has proven to be a significant ray of hope for victims of the FTX collapse, and indeed FTX estimates that the company has sufficient funds to pay all customer and creditor claims in full.
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