Government sold FTX executives' Anthropic shares for billions

The US government sold Anthropic shares in 2025 that had previously been seized from Caroline Ellison and Nishad Singh, two former FTX executives. The pair had together invested $50 million in Anthropic in 2022. Those shares could now be worth between $2.6 billion and $5 billion, depending on the valuation used. The amount for which the government sold them, and to whom, has not been disclosed.

In brief:

• The US government seized Anthropic shares from two FTX co-conspirators and sold them in 2025 through the US Marshals Service.
• Ellison and Singh bought those shares together for $50 million in 2022; they are now worth a multiple of that.
• It is unclear whether the proceeds will go to the victims of the FTX fraud or remain in government hands.

From $50 million to billions

Ellison and Singh both invested in Anthropic’s Series B financing round in 2022. Singh put in $40 million, Ellison $10 million. Together, they thereby held a significant stake in the AI company, according to court documents reviewed by Business Insider.

Anthropic has since grown into one of the most valuable private companies in the world. On the secondary market, the company is valued at $1.5 trillion. The shares Ellison and Singh bought in 2022 are now jointly worth between $4.17 billion and $5.03 billion, based on the most recent official valuation of $965 billion, according to an estimate by UCLA researcher Olav Sorenson. Analyst Harrison Rolfes of PitchBook puts it at $2.62 billion.

Shares seized as part of criminal case

Ellison was director of Alameda Research, the crypto hedge fund of FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, and traded with money belonging to FTX users. Singh was an early employee and helped conceal the commingling of funds between the two companies. In 2023, Bankman-Fried was convicted of fraud and money laundering and sentenced to 25 years in prison. The damage was estimated at $11 billion.

As part of their criminal sentences, Ellison and Singh had to surrender their Anthropic shares. A federal judge ordered the transfer to the government: Ellison’s shares were transferred in February 2025, and Singh’s in April of that year. The US Marshals Service Complex Assets Unit then handled the sale. The shares were sold to existing Anthropic shareholders, according to an insider who spoke with Business Insider.

Proceeds may go to FTX victims

What happens to the sale proceeds remains unclear. Prosecutors previously indicated that the Department of Justice could use the proceeds to compensate victims of the FTX fraud, possibly through cooperation with the FTX bankruptcy process. That process is being overseen by the law firm Sullivan & Cromwell.

Singh’s lawyer said his client hopes the government will quickly distribute the proceeds to the FTX victims. Ellison’s lawyer declined to comment. Bankman-Fried’s own Anthropic stake, then representing 13.56% of the company, had already been liquidated through the bankruptcy. Those shares raised a total of $1.3 billion in 2024, more than double the purchase price.