The U.S. government sells shares of Anthropic held by two key allies of SBF, with a potential value reaching billions of dollars

The U.S. government previously seized the shares of Anthropic held by FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried's two key allies, Caroline Ellison and Nishad Singh, and sold the related shares to existing investors of Anthropic in 2025. However, the specific buyers, transaction prices, and the amount received by the government have not been disclosed. The court previously ruled that Ellison and Singh must forfeit their shares in Anthropic. The U.S. government acquired the shares of the two in February and April 2025, respectively. The two had previously invested $10 million and $40 million to participate in Anthropic's Series B financing in 2022.

As Anthropic's valuation skyrocketed, the value of their shares significantly increased. UCLA professor Olav Sorenson estimated that based on Anthropic's announced valuation of $965 billion in May this year, the total value of their holdings is approximately $4.17 billion to $5.03 billion; if Anthropic goes public at a valuation of $2 trillion in the future, the value of the related shares could reach about $5.44 billion. It is currently unclear at what price the U.S. government sold these shares. Estimates indicate that if the transaction occurred at different points in time in 2025, the proceeds from the sale of the related shares could range from approximately $250 million to $1.1 billion. Notably, as of the end of June 2026, the proceeds from the sale do not appear to have been transferred into the FTX bankruptcy estate management system. FTX victims' representative Sunil Kavuri stated that the government should use the related funds to compensate the victims; the U.S. Department of Justice claimed that it prioritizes providing compensation to victims from forfeited assets, but information regarding the sale of related assets and fund distribution is confidential.