FTX Estate Can Sell Near 8% Stake in AI StartUp Anthropic, Court Rules

• FTX's request to sell its stake in Anthropic has been granted by a court.
• FTX and sister investment firm Alameda invested $500 million in Anthropic in 2021.

The FTX bankruptcy estate has been granted approval to sell its stake in artificial intelligence (AI) startup Anthropic, court filings from Thursday show.

The motion to sell around 7.84% of Anthropic held by FTX had been filed in early February 2024. An initial attempt to sell the stake was made in June 2023, but was paused after months of bidders’ due diligence.

FTX and its sister firm Alameda invested $500 million in Anthropic in 2021. The valuation of the Anthropic stake may hover around 1 billion as Anthropic’s valuation had tripled to $15 billion.

In January 2024, the FTX estate said it expects to fully repay its customers. Sam Bankman-Fried, the former FTX boss, is due to be sentenced next month after being found guilty of fraud last year, with his prison duration expected to be hotly contested.

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