FTX sells remaining Anthropic shares for $452m

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As a crypto investor who closely follows the developments in the industry, I’m both surprised and encouraged by the latest news regarding FTX’s sale of its remaining shares in Anthropic. The fact that the bankrupt estate was able to net over $1.3 billion from these sales is impressive, given the challenging circumstances that led to FTX’s downfall.

As a researcher investigating the recent developments in the tech industry, I’ve come across the news that the FTX estate has sold off its last holdings of Anthropic Inc.’s shares. Anthropic is an innovative AI company renowned for its creation, Claude, an advanced conversational AI model.

According to the most recent bankruptcy reports from FTX’s estate, they successfully disposed of approximately 15 million shares of Anthropic at a price of thirty dollars apiece. This transaction generated an impressive revenue of over $452 million for the estate.

The bankrupt FTX sold its remaining 15 million shares in the artificial intelligence startup Anthropic at $30 per share, netting more than $450 million. FTX initially invested $500 million in Anthropic, and now has a total gain of $1.3 billion. However, the legal and…

— Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) June 2, 2024

G Squared leads purchase

Based on the court records, it was revealed that G Squared, the venture capital firm, purchased a total of 4.5 million shares amounting to approximately $135 million.

Other notable buyers included Fund FG-BLU and more than a dozen hedge funds and investment firms.

In more natural and easy-to-read language,

An earlier deal generated roughly $900 million, increasing the overall earnings from these transactions to approximately $1.3 billion.

In the initial sale, ATIC Third International Investment Company LLC, linked to Mubadala, the UAE’s sovereign wealth fund, purchased approximately $500 million worth of FTX’s Anthropic shares.

The latest sale, similar to the previous one, became public knowledge via court documents submitted to the United States Bankruptcy Court in Delaware.

Optimism for FTX creditor repayment

As a researcher, I’ve uncovered some encouraging news regarding FTX’s ability to repay its creditors. Previously reported figures indicated that the estate had approximately $6.4 billion in cash reserves on hand.

In FTX’s holdings, Anthropic shares held significant worth, with Alameda having purchased a 8% ownership stake for $500 million back in 2021.

Before starting FTX, entrepreneur Sam Bankman-Fried established Alameda Research. From there, he managed massive trading volumes using FTX’s funds and employed the exchange’s native token as security for these transactions.

Both companies went bankrupt in November 2022. Bankman-Fried was sentenced to 25 years in prison.

After that, the swift expansion of the AI industry significantly boosted Anthropic’s stock value. Consequently, the defunct exchange reaped over $800 million in earnings from this surge.

As a crypto investor, I’m thrilled to share that my investment in Anthropic saw significant growth toward the end of 2022. The game-changer came when Google announced its strategic investment in this AI upstart, reportedly to the tune of $300 million. With Microsoft and OpenAI making waves in the competitive artificial intelligence landscape, Google’s move positions Anthropic as a formidable contender, thereby boosting my investment’s value.

After the U.S. Bankruptcy Court gave its approval on February 22nd for FTX’s request to sell their shares in Anthropic, the value of these stocks had more than doubled since the original purchase, making it possible to complete the sale.

This marked a new chapter in the exchange’s plans to pay back creditors.

In 2021, Sam Bankman-Fried initially bought a significant share in Anthropic, amounting to almost 14% ownership for FTX. However, subsequent funding rounds by Anthropic resulted in the reduction of FTX’s holding, now valued at approximately 7.84%.

As a researcher examining this situation, I’ve found that FTX customers raised objections to the stock sale, alleging that the funds used for purchasing the shares were misappropriated. Despite their concerns, the sale was permitted under the stipulation that these customers could later recover the proceeds from the transaction.

In June 2023, the crypto exchange initiated an attempt to offload its Anthropic shares for sale. Yet, this endeavor was suspended. Nevertheless, these latest transactions signify substantial progress in addressing the company’s outstanding financial commitments.

In the course of events, it is anticipated that the funds generated from the sales of the exchange’s former customer and investor relationships will be essential for the company to pay off its outstanding debts and maneuver through its bankruptcy process.

As a crypto investor, I can tell you that during this period, Anthropic has been collaborating closely with Amazon.com Inc. The tech giant has reportedly poured in over $4 billion worth of investment into our company.

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2024-06-02 18:06