Anyone who doesn't understand that they have the new Google in front of them is a fool. They wouldn't pass a minimum IQ test and don't deserve to make money." That is the scathing opinion of one of Anthropic's early investors, collected anonymously by the Financial Times, during what are tense hours for Dario Amodei's company, which is expected to go public by the end of the month. You can cut the tension with a knife: the group—which was aiming for a $2 trillion market capitalization—now looks like it might settle for $1 trillion to $1.3 trillion, at least according to the most recent estimates coming from Wall Street. For early investors, that would mean accepting a substantial reduction in their anticipated profits.
You are fools
That is pretty much the gist of it. It is unclear who uttered that terrible phrase, but it is worth reporting in full—if only to hand it over to history.
"If investors don't understand the narrative at this point, they fail a basic intelligence test. The next Google is dancing naked right in front of their eyes. If they don't see the value, they don't deserve to make money."
The opinion is, ofrous, self-serving. According to the Financial Times, the speaker is an early investor in Anthropic who stands to gain immensely from a stellar valuation.
The latest in-depth report from the American publication nevertheless speaks of an obstinate goal set by Anthropic at $1.5 trillion. And perhaps that is the real news. In fact, the group led by Dario Amodei is determined to proceed with the IPO, despite Thursday's crashes and despite the sentiment surrounding the sector certainly not being the best.
When are they going public? What will "the fools" do?
The listing is scheduled to take place by the end of November and possibly before Thanksgiving (this coming November 26). It is still unclear what the initial listing price will be or how many shares will be made available to large-scale investors and the retail public. What does seem certain is the attempt to reach a market capitalization of at least $1.5 trillion, for what would become the second-largest IPO by market cap ever, trailing only SpaceX (Musk's group was valued at $1.770 trillion upon going public). The crisis in the sector is therefore not causing fear. At least not to Dario Amodei. Who knows if it will frighten the... fools.
