FTX pauses sale of stake in AI firm Anthropic, once purchased for $500m

FTX has suspended a planned sale of its stake in the artificial intelligence firm Anthropic, according to a Bloomberg report on June 27.

The sale could have raised “nine figures”

FTX’s stake in Anthropic was expected to sell for “nine figures,” based on secondary reports cited by Bloomberg. FTX and Alameda invested $500 million in Anthropic in November 2022 before their bankruptcy.

There has been no official announcement from FTX or related parties about the halted sale. Instead, according to Bloomberg’s anonymous sources, Perella Weinberg Partners, an investment bank, privately told bidders that the sale had been paused. But details about why the sale had been paused were not given.

Anthropic is reportedly valued at $4.6 billion, according to news outlet Semafor. In May, the firm raised $450 million for its AI bot, which is intended to compete with ChatGPT.

FTX is divesting its stakes in other firms

FTX is additionally selling its stake in other companies as part of its ongoing bankruptcy proceedings. The company moved to sell its stake in Mysten Labs — the creator of the Sui blockchain — in March. That deal was completed in April for $96 million.

The crypto exchange also acted to sell its stake in VC firm Sequoia Capital. The deal’s status is unclear, but it was valued at $45 million in March.

In April,  FTX arranged to sell LedgerX, a crypto derivatives trading platform that it had previously acquired. That $50 million sale was approved in May.

These divestments form part of FTX’s strategy to address its bankruptcy proceedings and compensate its users. Recent court filings suggest that FTX misappropriated $8.7 billion.

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