Anthropic seeks 50.1% voting control for 7 co-founders

Anthropic is asking its shareholders to approve a new class of stock that would put 50.1% of voting power on most matters in the hands of CEO Dario Amodei and six co-founders, according to The Information's reporting carried by Business Standard. The structure echoes the one Palantir used going into its own IPO.

The founders keep that control as long as at least three of them hold onto a minimum stake. Board elections are exempt. Anthropic's board has seven seats, one of them empty, and those elections would still run under normal voting rules. Employees get a separate class of their own, one that can break ties on votes outside the founders' bloc.

What the plan doesn't give the public is a vote. Buyers in an eventual IPO would get economic exposure to Anthropic with almost no control over how it's run. The reporting doesn't say which specific matters sit outside the founders' 50.1% bloc beyond board seats, or what happens if the founder count drops below three while the stake requirement holds.