Anthropic's upcoming initial public offering could leave more than 4,250 employees sitting on million-dollar fortunes, as years of stock compensation come within reach of the public market.

Major Wall Street banks are not waiting for the listing to compete for that business. Goldman Sachs (GS), Bank of America (BAC), JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Wells Fargo (WFC), and Bank of New York Mellon (BK) have vied for the opportunity to advise employees on what to do with their money. According to Bloomberg, the banks have held talks with Anthropic about providing financial services to its workforce. The early maneuvering reflects the scale of the prize: a single listing that could place thousands of prospective clients in front of private bankers at once.

The millionaire count remains an estimate. Actual payouts will depend on individual stock grants, the listing price, and the point at which employees are allowed to sell.

Anthropic Employees Are Sitting on Billions in Stock Awards

Founded in 2021 by former OpenAI employees, Anthropic has grown from a young AI startup into one of the most recognized companies in the industry. Its Claude chatbot and artificial intelligence coding software have allowed it to compete for clients willing to pay a premium for AI solutions.

According to Anthropic's recent Securities and Exchange Commission filing, the company employed around 940 people at the end of 2024. By September 30, 2026, its worldwide headcount had risen to 5,300 — roughly a fivefold expansion in under two years, the kind of rapid hiring that spreads stock grants across a much larger workforce.

The filing has also caught the attention of wealth managers for another reason: $32.3 billion in unrecorded stock-based compensation expense. Of that figure, roughly $8.2 billion pertains to awards for which employees have already served part or all of their respective service periods.

Most of the compensation relates to restricted stock units, or RSUs, which entitle employees to receive company shares upon meeting certain criteria, mostly tied to their period of employment. Because those criteria are satisfied over time, the expense is set to land on the company's books gradually rather than as a single payout.

There is an important catch, however. The $32.3 billion is an accounting charge that Anthropic has yet to record. It does not indicate that the workforce will receive that money all at once, nor does it determine the value of their stock in any way.

Some employees have already had the chance to convert their stock into cash. In February, according to Bloomberg, Anthropic made provision for a possible private sale of stock worth $6 billion, based on an enterprise valuation of around $350 billion.

Not everyone who cashed out immediately went shopping for a Ferrari. Financial News reported, citing wealth advisers familiar with employees' decisions, that some used their proceeds to purchase homes around the San Francisco Bay Area, while others preferred putting their money into index funds.

Anthropic's $1 Trillion IPO Comes With Some Expensive Questions

Anthropic's latest filing, published Tuesday, put its potential IPO valuation at $1.02 trillion, below figures investors had previously discussed. The company and existing investors are looking to raise as much as $64.4 billion by offering 825 million shares, with an expected price range of $70 to $78 each.

Those numbers are still enormous, but expectations were previously much higher. Earlier this year, some investors anticipated an October IPO that could value Anthropic at $2 trillion. Subsequent discussions centered on $1.5 trillion, before concerns about expensive infrastructure commitments and volatile AI stocks weighed on expectations. Some prospective investors questioned whether the company could justify those prices while spending heavily on the computing power needed to develop and run its models.

Employees hoping to cash out also face another obstacle: share lockups. Anthropic's prospectus outlines selling restrictions lasting up to 180 days for certain employees and shareholders, while some other holdings could remain locked for 365 days, meaning workers cannot necessarily sell their shares immediately after the company lists. For anyone following the deal, the calendar matters as much as the sticker price: the final pricing within the $70 to $78 range and the staggered lockup deadlines will determine when — and in how many waves — employee stock can actually reach the open market.

Charitable giving is another part of the story. Anthropic announced in October that its co-founders had pledged to donate 80% of their equity holdings, a commitment they made when they established the company. The company also operates a program matching qualifying employee donations made through equity, with approximately half of Anthropic's workforce participating.