The FTX bankruptcy estate has secured a significant victory by selling the majority of its stake in artificial intelligence (AI) startup Anthropic for a whopping $884 million. This news comes as a welcome relief for the estate, which is currently working to repay customers who lost funds when the cryptocurrency exchange collapsed in November 2022.
According to court filings, a consortium of 24 institutional investors snapped up the Anthropic shares. The biggest buyer is ATIC Third International Investment Company, a tech investment arm of Mubadala, the sovereign wealth fund of Abu Dhabi. ATIC is acquiring over $500 million worth of Anthropic shares. Notably, the list of buyers also includes Jane Street Global Trading, a firm with ties to former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, as well as “certain funds” managed by Fidelity Investments and even The Ford Foundation.
This sale marks a major turning point for the FTX estate. In January, the estate committed to a remarkable goal: reimbursing FTX customers 100% of the value of their holdings at the time of the collapse. The $884 million windfall from the Anthropic sale brings them significantly closer to achieving that ambitious target. The news also triggered a positive reaction in the cryptocurrency market, with FTX’s native token, FTT, experiencing a 10% price surge.
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The story behind the sale is one of both foresight and fortunate timing. FTX and its affiliated trading firm, Alameda Research, had invested $500 million in Anthropic back in 2021, acquiring an 8% stake in the company. The subsequent explosion of interest in AI, largely fueled by the popularity of tools like ChatGPT, significantly boosted Anthropic’s value. By the time a New York bankruptcy judge approved the sale of the shares in February 2024, the stake was worth more than double the initial investment.
This successful sale stands in stark contrast to other FTX asset disposals. Notably, the estate was forced to fire-sell crypto derivatives platform LedgerX for a mere $50 million last year. This figure was a far cry from the $298 million FTX’s U.S. arm had paid for LedgerX in 2021.
The successful sale of Anthropic shares demonstrates the potential value proposition of AI startups, even amidst a tumultuous market for cryptocurrencies. With this significant financial boost, the FTX estate can continue its efforts to make customers whole.
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