Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt’s early wager on artificial intelligence startup Anthropic could be value as much as $20 billion when the company goes public, according to a report.
The 71-year-old tech billionaire owns roughly 1% of the company behind the Claude chatbot after investing tens of hundreds of thousands of {dollars} in its 2021 Series A funding spherical, Bloomberg reported Tuesday, citing people acquainted with the matter.
Investors not too long ago pegged Anthropic’s potential valuation at between $1.8 trillion and $2 trillion forward of its extremely anticipated initial public offering, according to Bloomberg.
Eric Schmidt, chief government officer of Relativity Space and former chief government officer of Google, speaks during the America Business Forum in Miami, Florida, Nov. 6, 2025. Bloomberg via Getty Images
Even at Anthropic’s most latest valuation of $965 billion, Schmidt’s reported stake would be value practically $10 billion on paper.
Bloomberg’s Billionaires Index places Schmidt’s present fortune at $57.5 billion.
A $2 trillion valuation for Anthropic would push his estimated wealth to practically $80 billion on paper, based mostly on his reported stake.
Schmidt participated in Anthropic’s initial main fundraising spherical in 2021, when the startup was valued at $461 million, according to PitchBook information cited by Bloomberg.
A $2 trillion valuation would symbolize a more than 4,300-fold increase from that early benchmark.
Schmidt and Anthropic declined to remark to Bloomberg, which said it could not decide whether the billionaire had offered any of his shares since his initial investment.
Anthropic could start advertising its IPO to traders as soon as the week of Nov. 9, doubtlessly paving the approach for shares to start trading before Thanksgiving, Bloomberg reported.
Anthropic’s seven co-founders, meanwhile, are each value an estimated $8 billion on paper, according to Bloomberg’s Billionaires Index.
An Anthropic emblem is displayed at Moscone Center during the Dreamforce 2026 technology summit in San Francisco, California, Sept. 17, 2026. REUTERS
Schmidt has also constructed a sprawling portfolio of technology investments through corporations including TomorrowVentures and Innovation Endeavors, as effectively as his household workplace, Hillspire.
More not too long ago, Schmidt has poured money into AI startups including Mistral AI, Reflection AI and World Labs, according to Bloomberg.
At a $2 trillion valuation, his Anthropic investment would outperform Innovation Endeavors’ early wager on Uber, whose valuation surged roughly 1,400-fold to $82 billion by the time it went public in 2019, Bloomberg reported.
Anthropic leapfrogged rival OpenAI in valuation after raising $65 billion in May, with enterprise capital corporations Altimeter Capital, Dragoneer, Greenoaks and Sequoia Capital each investing more than $2 billion, according to Bloomberg.
Other main backers of the Claude chatbot maker embody tech giants Alphabet, Amazon, Nvidia and Microsoft.
Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei arrives at the White House for a lunch with technology leaders and President Donald Trump in Washington on, Sept. 29, 2026. Zuma / SplashNews.com
Anthropic’s stock market debut could match or eclipse the $1.77 trillion valuation achieved by SpaceX in its record-setting June IPO, Bloomberg reported, citing people acquainted with the matter.
Schmidt’s personal life has also attracted a lot of headlines.
The billionaire has been married to philanthropist Wendy Schmidt since 1980, even as his relationships with other girls have drawn public scrutiny.
He beforehand dated entrepreneur Michelle Ritter, with whom he launched the technology enterprise Steel Perlot, according to Forbes.
Their romance ultimately unraveled, and the former couple grew to become embroiled in a legal dispute. In June, the Los Angeles Times reported that Ritter had been ordered to pay Schmidt $10 million.
The Anthropic Claude web site is displayed on a laptop computer in Forest Hills, New York, April 22, 2026. Anthropic PBC has said its new artificial intelligence device, Claude Mythos Preview, is too highly effective to release to the normal public. Bloomberg via Getty Images
Schmidt was also romantically linked to Alexandra Duisberg, with Page Six reporting that the pair break up in 2019 before reconnecting the following yr.
More not too long ago, the former Google chief fueled hypothesis about his love life after showing at occasions alongside Gloria-Sophie Burkandt, the daughter of a German politician, earlier this yr.
A source close to Schmidt, however, characterised their relationship as a friendship rather than a romance, according to revealed reports.
A rep for Schmidt declined to remark when reached by The Post.
