US Government Sells Anthropic Stakes Seized from FTX Executives
The US government quietly sold its stakes in AI giant Anthropic, which were seized from two former FTX executives, Caroline Ellison and Nishad Singh. The stakes were originally valued at $50 million but turned into a lucrative asset forfeiture for the government after Anthropic's valuation soared.
Ellison invested around $10 million and Singh put in about $40 million during Anthropic's Series B funding round in 2022. Both executives forfeited their shares as part of their criminal proceedings tied to FTX's collapse, with Ellison cooperating with federal prosecutors and testifying against Sam Bankman-Fried.
The US Marshals Service sold the shares to existing Anthropic investors in 2025, but the exact sale price remains undisclosed. Estimates suggest the government may have netted between $250 million and $1.1 billion, depending on Anthropic's valuation at the time.