FTX to unload $1B Anthropic stock to pay bankruptcy debts within weeks – Report
Defunct cryptocurrency exchange FTX recently announced that it will sell its $1 billion stake in the artificial intelligence firm to pay off bankruptcy debt, according to a March 22 report from CNBC.
Anthroponic is currently mulling investor negotiations to buy the stock, with a deal expected “within two weeks,” according to the article. The report cited sources familiar with the matter who asked not to be named because of the ongoing financial negotiations.
The shares are being bought by a special purpose vehicle (SPV), sources told CNBC. This was made possible by FTX's bankruptcy, as SPVs are essentially separate corporate entities that can fulfill the parent company's legal obligations in the event of bankruptcy.
Related: US government seeks court approval to sell private jets tied to Sam Bankman-Fried
CNBC's sources also say Saudi Arabia is closed to controversy on national security issues, but it is not clear if the article refers only to state investors, or if it refers to individuals or corporate investors from Saudi Arabia or citizens operating companies in foreign territories. Suspension in the same way. This, although the shares are considered “Class B” non-voting shares.
As Cointelegraph reported in February, Delaware Bankruptcy Court Judge John Dorsey ruled in a February 22 hearing that FTX can sell its stake in Anthroponic. During the share buyback, in April 2022, FTX purchased approximately $530 million in Anthropoc shares. But those stocks nearly doubled in value amid the AI boom, and are now estimated to be worth about $1 billion.
The news comes just over a week before FTX boss Sam Bankman-Fried's sentencing hearing on March 28. Bankman-Fried was found guilty in November 2023 of seven counts of fraud.
US Attorney Damian Williams described the crimes of banker Fried as one of the biggest financial frauds in US history and a “multi-billion dollar scheme designed to make him king of crypto”.
