Anthropic Shares in Short Supply: Buyers Offer $2B While OpenAI Stock Loses Appeal

Anthropic Dominates Secondary Market Demand

Shares of AI company Anthropic have become the most sought-after asset on the secondary market for private companies, while OpenAI stock is losing its appeal among investors. This was reported by TechCrunch, citing Glen Anderson, president of investment bank Rainmaker Securities, which has been brokering trades in private company shares since 2010, covering approximately one thousand firms.

Anderson confirmed earlier Bloomberg reports about surging demand for Anthropic. According to the CEO of Next Round Capital, potential buyers are ready to pour as much as $2 billion into the startup. By contrast, current OpenAI shareholders cannot find buyers for even $600 million worth of their holdings.

Anderson described Anthropic shares as the most difficult to obtain on Rainmaker's trading platform — there are simply no sellers.

Why This Matters

This dynamic reflects a significant shift in investor sentiment within the AI sector. OpenAI was recently considered the undisputed leader among AI startups, but Anthropic is now capturing a substantial portion of investor interest. The shift could reshape fundraising strategies for both companies and affect their potential public listing plans.

What's Driving the Anthropic Frenzy

One key factor behind the surge is Anthropic's standoff with the U.S. Department of Defense. Anderson noted that the company's application became more popular, and Anthropic gained an image as a kind of hero challenging the government. This amplified public attention and further distinguished the firm from OpenAI.

However, Anderson emphasized that OpenAI is far from being in distress. Institutional investors remain interested in both companies. But the earlier enthusiasm has faded — the OpenAI secondary market is far less dynamic compared to Anthropic's.

According to Anderson, OpenAI shares are currently trading on the secondary market at a valuation of $765 billion — a notable discount from the $852 billion valuation featured in the company's most recent funding round.

SpaceX: The Hidden Giant Valued at Over $2 Trillion

Amid the competition between the two AI giants, the market often overlooks SpaceX. Anderson noted that Elon Musk's company is one of the few in Rainmaker's portfolio that has never experienced a sharp correction with share prices dropping 60–70%. SpaceX has "practically always been growing and developing."

The company's leadership maintains strict pricing discipline, avoiding the temptation to maximize valuation in every funding round. This conservative approach has delivered enormous returns for early backers. In 2015, Google and Fidelity invested $1 billion in SpaceX at a $12 billion valuation. Based on target metrics for the upcoming listing, their returns could exceed the initial investment by more than 100 times.

Record-Breaking IPO and Market Impact

SpaceX's public listing appears imminent. The company has confidentially filed for an IPO and plans to raise between $50 billion and $75 billion in June at a $1.75 trillion valuation. Media reports subsequently indicated that SpaceX raised its target valuation to over $2 trillion.

Anderson reported a surge of investor inquiries about acquiring SpaceX shares. Buyer demand is extremely active, but supply is drying up — the closer the IPO gets, the less incentive existing shareholders have to sell.

At a valuation above $2 trillion, SpaceX would be worth more than every company in the S&P 500 except the top five — Nvidia, Apple, Alphabet, Microsoft, and Amazon. The listing would also surpass Saudi Aramco's historical record of raising $29.4 billion at a $1.7 trillion valuation in 2019.

SpaceX's massive IPO could complicate similar plans for OpenAI and Anthropic this year. Anderson suggested that companies following SpaceX to market will be at a disadvantage, as the pool of money allocated for IPOs is limited — and SpaceX will absorb a significant portion of that liquidity.

SpaceX intends to use the raised capital for building data centers in space and constructing a city on the Moon.

Source: ForkLog AI on Telegram