A surge in demand for shares of **Anthropic**, one of the hottest names in artificial intelligence, has led to a frenzy among investors. Following a hint from tech founder **Jesse Leimgruber** on social media platform **X** that he might sell his shares, offers began flooding in from investors eager to secure a piece of the company. Within minutes, Leimgruber was inundated with proposals ranging from immediate cash offers to venture capital partnerships, underscoring the immense interest in **Anthropic’s** rapid growth and its AI coding assistant, **Claude Code**.
“The demand is off the charts,” Leimgruber told me during a phone interview, emphasizing the competitive atmosphere. “Every VC in Silicon Valley is racing to get Anthropic into their portfolio.” Investors have made unprecedented offers, with some willing to wire millions of dollars in cash within 48 hours, while others have provided unsolicited screenshots of their bank accounts and proof-of-funds letters. Notably, offers from well-known growth equity funds have valued **Anthropic** at over $1 trillion.
“That’s not something people usually send without an NDA, but people have to be so aggressive,” Leimgruber commented. He has even started a **Customer Relationship Management (CRM)** system to keep track of the myriad offers. Among the most unusual was from a venture capital firm that proposed making him a general partner in exchange for his shares. “They had no intention of making me a partner on their fund had it not been for the pledging of my Anthropic shares,” he said, underscoring the lengths to which investors are willing to go.
As **Anthropic** has yet to go public, most transactions are conducted via secondary markets, where current or former employees and early investors sell existing stock. This has made acquiring shares a herculean task, with one banker even offering his $4.8 million estate in Marin County to entice early employees to part with their stock. The stock’s soaring value has discouraged many shareholders from selling, leading to high fees and complex ownership structures in the few transactions that do occur. “The problem is there are no sellers,” said **Glen Anderson**, CEO of **Rainmaker Securities**, a bank focused on private securities transactions. “There’s an imbalance in the market.” This imbalance has made those fortunate enough to hold shares highly sought after.
“We receive daily offers from the ridiculous to the sublime,” said **Bradley Horowitz**, a general partner at **Wisdom Ventures**, an early investor in **Anthropic**. He noted that while he is unwilling to sell his shares, the aggressive tactics employed by buyers are indicative of the intense interest in the company. Meanwhile, Leimgruber, the founder of AI hardware firm **OpenHome**, is contemplating cashing in. He originally acquired his stake during the **FTX** bankruptcy in 2024, when **Anthropic** was valued at **$18 billion**. “I actually thought it was already overvalued then,” he remarked. “No one could have predicted this.”
With a staggering **5,400%** gain over two years, Leimgruber believes that the upside may now be limited and that diversification of his investments is prudent. “I have a large portion of my assets in this one investment,” he stated. “Some diversification seems prudent.” This perspective reflects a broader sentiment among investors navigating the high-stakes environment surrounding **AI** companies. As the technology sector continues to evolve, the attention on **Anthropic** exemplifies the ongoing gold rush mentality that defines Silicon Valley’s landscape.
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