FTX moves to offload 8% stake in Anthropic

Bankrupt crypto exchange FTX is seeking court approval to sell its entire stake in artificial intelligence (AI) firm Anthropic, according to court filings on Feb. 3.

FTX submitted a motion to the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware seeking to sell Anthropic Series B preferred stock, including rights or interests therein, owned by its sister company, Alameda Research.

The exchange’s former CEO, Sam Bankman-Fried, invested about $530 in Anthropic in April 2022 — seven months before his empire  collapsed in November of that year . The capital invested in the AI startup was originally from customer deposits on FTX, according to evidence  presented during Bankman-Fried’s legal  trial in October 2023.

Alameda held approximately 13.56% of Anthropic after its Series B funding round closed in April 2022. Anthropic issued additional securities in later funding rounds, diluting Alameda’s participation to 7.84% as of January. Anthropic was valued at $18 billion as of December 2023, with Alameda’s stake in the company worth about $1.4 billion.

FTX is also seeking to shorten the review timeline for its sale motion, targeting a resolution in the bankruptcy court’s forthcoming meeting on Feb. 22.

“The flexibility to adjust the sale timeline will help facilitate such cooperation, including by allowing the Debtors to capture excess demand for Anthropic’s equity securities channeled from any of Anthropic’s financing rounds. Further, given the significant number and value of Anthropic Shares held by the Debtors, the flexibility to sell portions of Anthropic Shares at different times will help the Debtors monetize their interest.”

The disinvestment in Anthropic is part of FTX’s new management efforts to recover funds and fully repay customers. FTX’s legal representative, Andy Dietderich, recently said during a court hearing that FTX has the potential to fully reimburse its users and creditors , rejecting plans to restart the exchange.

FTX filed a similar motion on Feb. 1  to sell a $175 million  claim against bankrupt digital financial services firm Genesis Global Capital.

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