Bill Ackman Anthropic stance: Pershing Square passes

The Bill Ackman Anthropic comments, made on 12 November at Yahoo Finance Invest, were blunt. The chief executive of Pershing Square Capital called Anthropic “the most amazing business story of this century” and said it still does not fit his portfolio, Yahoo Finance reported. The Claude maker is set to list on the Nasdaq under the ticker ANT, with trading expected to begin on Thursday 19 November.

What happened

Ackman spoke to Yahoo Finance on Thursday 12 November, according to the outlet’s report by Brian Sozzi. He said Pershing Square thinks of itself in a particular way: “We think of ourselves as very low-risk investors.” Billionaires.Africa, which covered the interview on Friday, quoted him adding: “We want to invest in businesses that we can predict with a very high degree of confidence.”

On valuation, Ackman said: “It’s just a much more complicated question as to what that business is worth.” He said Anthropic could be worth “a lot more, a lot less, depending upon a few variables that are difficult to predict.” Yahoo Finance said he believes the company is near, or may already be at, real operating profitability.

The IPO terms come from the preliminary prospectus filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission on 10 November, as described by Billionaires.Africa. Anthropic is offering 825 million Class A shares in an indicative range of $70 to $78. It is issuing 801.35 million new shares, while existing shareholders are selling 23.65 million.

Key numbers

Price range: $70 to $78 a share for 825 million Class A shares, Billionaires.Africa reported.
Valuation: about $1.4 trillion fully diluted at the top of the range, Yahoo Finance said.
Third quarter net loss: $23.29 billion, from the amended filing, Yahoo Finance reported.
Growth: quarterly revenue growth slowed to 47% from 144% in the second quarter, Billionaires.Africa reported.
Private placement: $26 billion in Class N shares involving Google, Microsoft, Nvidia, AMD, Broadcom, Micron and TSMC, per the same report.

Who is Bill Ackman and why Anthropic does not fit Pershing Square

Ackman is the chief executive of Pershing Square Capital, Yahoo Finance said. He told the outlet that Pershing Square owns Visa, and he used it as the yardstick: Anthropic, he said, is “a more speculative bet” than buying Visa. The comparison sets a payments company the fund already holds against a business in artificial intelligence, where he noted that the capital spending required is substantial.

His stance, as quoted, is about price and predictability rather than a verdict on the business. For investors in financial services and technology alike, it frames the debate over how to value a company growing this fast. Founders in Frame has covered the offer from several angles, including the Anthropic IPO price range, the reported oversubscription and the valuation debate and what the seven co-founders own.

What Ackman said about the risks

Ackman told Yahoo Finance that if Anthropic “doesn’t stay in the lead position,” real questions arise about its business model. He also noted that the capital spending it must make is substantial. Neither report reviewed by Founders in Frame carried a response from Anthropic to his comments.

He was clear that he is not dismissing the company. Yahoo Finance said he called the rise from zero to where it is today remarkable. His objection, as quoted, is that the range of outcomes is wide: “that’s why it doesn’t fit into our portfolio.”

What happens next

Trading in Anthropic is expected to begin on Thursday 19 November on the Nasdaq. At the top of the range, the fully diluted valuation is about $1.404 trillion, according to Billionaires.Africa’s reading of the prospectus. Yahoo Finance put the potential raise at up to $100 billion at the top of the range, a figure that differs from the roughly $64.35 billion public offering Billionaires.Africa calculated, so the final size should be checked against the filing. The first weeks of trading will show how investors weigh the Bill Ackman Anthropic caution.