SBF's one move became the biggest regret; in another timeline, FTX might not have collapsed.

BlockBeats News, February 9 — As early as 2021, former OpenAI executive Dario Amodei and others founded AI startup Anthropic, directly competing with ChatGPT. In April of the following year, SBF-led FTX announced it would lead a new funding round for Anthropic, raising $580 million, with a $500 million investment. At that time, Anthropic was valued at approximately $2.5 billion, and FTX held about 13.56% equity. Later, in subsequent funding rounds, their stake was diluted to around 8%. The seeds of this were planted at this moment, as SBF, passionate about long-termism and AI risks, used customer funds.

The 2022 bear market delivered its final blow in November, with FTX collapsing and declaring bankruptcy. SBF was subsequently arrested and eventually sentenced to 25 years. Fast forward to 2024, the FTX bankruptcy estate was approved by the court to sell its shares in Anthropic to repay creditors. First, two-thirds of the holdings were sold to buyers including Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth fund, cashing out about $884 million. After the final liquidation, FTX recovered approximately $1.3 to $1.4 billion from its investment in Anthropic.

However, the AI boom has arrived, and Anthropic has seen massive investments from giants like Amazon and Google, causing its valuation to soar. Currently, Anthropic is negotiating a new funding round, with a pre-money valuation of $350 billion, potentially closing as early as this week. If the funding is completed, the post-money valuation will be even higher.

It’s a pity that at the time of FTX’s bankruptcy, its valuation was about $32 billion. If it had held onto that roughly 8% stake, it could now be worth $28 billion or more. If FTX hadn’t collapsed, SBF might have become one of the richest individuals in the AI era thanks to this Anthropic investment. But, unfortunately, there’s no “if.” After FTX’s bankruptcy liquidation, this stake became the most valuable part of the bankruptcy assets, helping to repay many victims. However, SBF missed out on huge gains while in prison.