In 2021, a group of OpenAI employees left to create a new company focused on the safe development of artificial intelligence. They named it Anthropic, a word that means “relating to humanity.” Later this month, that company is expected to debut on Wall Street in what could be one of the biggest IPOs in history. But the decision raises a fundamental question: Can a company put humanity first while meeting the demands of Wall Street?
The IPO is a monumental development for the AI boom and will shed light on what investors think of chatbot creator Claude. The stock market debut also marks a new chapter for Anthropic that will test whether it can balance its mission of safely developing AI with the pressures of being a publicly traded company.
Anthropic has a special ownership structure designed to help the company stick to its original goals, balance profit growth with its mission, and retain investors to stage a takeover. The structure includes a group of directors who hold majority control over the board, as well as a special class of shares that ensures that the seven founders hold the majority of the voting rights of the general shareholders.
With its mission for safe AI and unorthodox corporate structure, Anthropic’s Wall Street debut can be seen as a guinea pig for pioneering AI labs and how they are received by investors.
Anthropic is registered as a public benefit corporation, or PBC. These types of corporations are legally required to balance shareholder interests with the company’s stated mission. This is different from a traditional business that focuses primarily on maximizing shareholder value.
“Anthropic’s governance structure is very unique,” said Gil Luria, head of technology research at financial services firm DA Davidson. “They explain it clearly. They’re very upfront about it.”
Anthropic described its “tripartite objectives” as a PBC in its S-1 filing: “the pecuniary interests of our shareholders, the best interests of those materially affected by our conduct, and the purpose of the company.”
Only a fraction of publicly traded companies are PBCs. Privately held Patagonia and eyewear retailer Warby Parker (WRBY) are both PBCs.
PBCs can choose what they want to do with corporate profits and invest as much as they want in security measures. And investors have little power to do anything about it. Its anthropogenic rival OpenAI became a PBC in 2025.
“Anthropic is explicit about this, saying there will be instances where they choose not to maximize shareholder value because of the judgments they make, the board of directors and the management team,” Luria said.
“Business growth and profitability are part of the goal, so it’s not that it’s contrary to the goal,” he added. “It’s just them saying there may be cases where that’s not their goal, or they’re looking for other goals, even at the expense of growth and profitability.”
Anthropic’s seven founders collectively own 50.1% of the company’s voting rights, meaning regular shareholders will have no say in its operations. This is a variation of a trend seen in recent years at large tech companies that have had structures in which founders retain majority control, such as Mark Zuckerberg at Meta and Elon Musk at SpaceX.
It’s not just that the founders have majority control. Anthropic established the Long-Term Benefit Trust (LTBT) in 2023, comprised of five subject matter experts who have no financial interest in the company’s actions. However, they have special non-financial shares with the power to appoint four directors to the company’s seven-person board of directors.
LTBT members include Neil Buddy Shah, CEO of the Clinton Health Access Initiative; and Ben Bernanke, former chairman of the Federal Reserve. There remains one vacant position within the LTBT which has not yet been filled.
“The LTBT may have interests that differ from yours, and it may exercise its power in ways that you do not agree with or in ways that may be adverse to your interests,” Anthropic said in an SEC filing, referring to shareholders.
When a company goes public, pressure can increase to grow profits and produce strong results for shareholders. But Anthropic and its CEO, Dario Amodei, have also spoken about the risk of AI causing enormous harm to humanity if placed in the wrong hands. Anthropic’s IPO filing includes more than 90 pages of risk disclosures, ranging from how AI can be misused by bad actors to the possibility of an existential risk to humanity.
“Although this Long-Term Benefit Trust has a lot of power, the founders also have a lot of power. But, you know, in both cases, the public shareholders don’t have the power,” said Jay Ritter, a professor emeritus at the University of Florida and an IPO expert.
If there are growing concerns about AI, founders and LTBT may make decisions for the company that impact stock value without any consideration for investors. In theory, this can help the company deliver on its mission – but it remains to be seen how the structure will work until an event forces the company to act.
Anthropic’s ownership structure won’t matter as much if profits are strong and the company continues its mission to develop safe AI. But it will be stress tested if profits aren’t as high as expected, security issues arise or disagreements fester between the board, founders or directors, said DA Davidson’s Luria.
“The strangest aspect of Anthropic’s record is its corporate governance structure,” Jay Goldberg, senior analyst at Seaport Research Partners, wrote in a note. “We believe this is the largest PBC and it will take time for the full implications of this structure to become apparent.”
“We believe this structure gives the LTBT and the founders ongoing and effective control of the company,” Goldberg added.
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