Anthropic IPO: Who is Krishna Rao? Meet the CFO whose $1.30 stock options could unlock a ₹7,000 crore fortune

Detailed summary

Anthropic is preparing an IPO that could value the company at up to $1.4 trillion. CFO Krishna Rao’s 9.497 million shares, acquired through options with a $1.30 exercise price, could gain about 5,600% at the proposed $74 share price. The company plans to list on Nasdaq as ANT.

Anthropic IPO: Anthropic PBC, the company behind Claude AI, is all set to launch its initial public offering (IPO). With the AI firm eyeing a valuation of up to $1.4 trillion, its Chief Financial Officer Krishna Rao could see the value of his stock options surge, potentially delivering a return of around 5,600%.

At the proposed Anthropic IPO price of $ 74 per share, against his $ 1.30 exercise price of stock options, Indian-origin Krishna’s potential gains are likely to increase by 5,600%.

Krishna Rao had beneficial ownership of 94.97 lakh shares of Anthropic PBC as of September 30, 2026, as per Anthropic's latest registration statement filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). It is a combination of directly held shares, and underlying stock options held by him and a trust over which he enjoys investment or voting control.

Anthropic IPO is expected to fall between $70 and $ 78 per share. At the upper price band $ 78 ( ₹7334) per share, Krishna Rao could witness his wealth swell to ₹6,965.76 crore (approximately ₹7,000 crore).

Krishna Rao is serving as the Chief Financial Officer of Anthropic since April 2024. Prior to joining the company, Rao served as CFO at Fanatics Commerce, which is an online sports merchandise and retail platform.

Rao is also known for his experience in the IPO process. He held multiple positions at Airbnb from October 2015 to July 2021, including Global Head of Corporate & Business Development and Director of Financial Planning & Analysis. He began his career as a strategy consultant at Bain, a global management consulting firm, from September 2005 to July 2008.

The proposed IPO includes 825,000,000 shares of Class A common stock. Out of these stocks 801,351,354 shares are being offered by Anthropic and 23,648,646 shares are being offered by certain existing stockholders. The company is planning to list its Class A common stock on the Nasdaq Global Select Market with symbol “ANT”.

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