FTX bankruptcy estate has closed a monumental deal to sell the majority of its shares in Artificial Intelligence (AI) startup, Anthropic. The sale, totaling a remarkable $884 million, has garnered widespread attention within the financial sector.
The top buyer in this momentous transaction is ATIC Third International Investment Company, a tech investment firm wholly owned by the government of Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth fund, Mubadala. This notable entity has agreed to purchase 16,664,167 shares of Anthropic from FTX for a substantial sum of $500 million. Additionally, other buyers include Jane Street Global Trading, certain funds tied to Fidelity Investments, and The Ford Foundation.
This sale of Anthropic shares represents a significant achievement for the FTX estate, which had previously committed to reimbursing 100% of the value of customers’ holdings following the exchange’s collapse. The positive impact of this deal has also been reflected in the surge of FTX’s FTT token, which climbed by an impressive 10% upon the announcement of the sale.
It’s important to note that FTX and Alameda had initially acquired the 8% stake in Anthropic for $500 million in 2021. The subsequent surge in AI technologies, fueled by the soaring popularity of ChatGPT, led to the doubling of the shares’ value. This prompted a New York bankruptcy judge to grant the estate permission to proceed with the sale in February.
This successful transaction stands in stark contrast to the previous firesale of other FTX assets, such as the sale of LedgerX last year for $50 million. The profitability of selling the Anthropic shares underscores the resilience and potential of the AI market amidst FTX’s challenges.
