Anthropic hits $1 trillion implied valuation on secondary markets
▼ Summary
– Anthropic’s implied valuation on secondary share trading platforms has reached approximately $1 trillion, overtaking OpenAI’s $880 billion valuation on the same venues.
– This valuation is not from a primary fundraising round but reflects what buyers are willing to pay for existing shares from employees and early investors.
– The rapid appreciation was driven by revenue acceleration from $9 billion annualized run rate at end-2025 to $30 billion by March 2026, and a supply-demand imbalance for Anthropic shares.
– OpenAI’s secondary market interest has cooled, with a five-to-one seller-to-buyer ratio in Q1 2026 and bids often below its last primary valuation.
– Secondary market valuations differ fundamentally from primary rounds, as they involve illiquid minority shares with no guaranteed liquidity or board rights.
Secondary trading platforms now value Anthropic at roughly $1 trillion, a dramatic surge from its $380 billion primary valuation just three months ago. Meanwhile, OpenAI trades at about $880 billion on the same markets, marking a notable shift in the AI sector’s pecking order. These figures come from secondary transactions, not official fundraising rounds, and carry no guarantee of liquidity or future pricing.
The San Francisco-based AI company, founded in 2021 by Dario and Daniela Amodei, has seen its implied valuation climb to approximately $1 trillion on platforms like Forge Global. Kelly Rodriques, CEO of Forge Global, told Business Insider that the valuation is “hovering around the $1 trillion mark.” This milestone arrives without a new primary round or press release; instead, it reflects what buyers are willing to pay for existing shares from employees and early investors.
The speed of this appreciation is striking. Anthropic closed a $30 billion Series G round led by GIC and Coatue in February 2026 at a $380 billion valuation. Now, secondary markets price the company at more than 2.5 times that figure in just three months. Market participants attribute this to accelerating revenue and a supply-demand imbalance for Anthropic shares.
Glen Anderson of Rainmaker Securities told Business Insider he recently saw an offer to buy Anthropic shares at a $960 billion valuation, a number he called “unthinkable” a month ago, with shares snapped up by competing buyers within hours. Ken Sawyer, co-founder of Saints Capital, noted one shareholder was willing to sell at a $1.15 trillion implied valuation.
The revenue trajectory behind these valuations is extraordinary. Anthropic’s annualized revenue run rate was about $9 billion at the end of 2025; by March 2026, it had reached $30 billion. That’s a 233% increase in one quarter, driven primarily by enterprise adoption of Claude Code and the company’s broader API and enterprise products. Reuters confirmed Anthropic has not yet agreed to a new primary round, reportedly resisting overtures from venture capital investors, according to Bloomberg. This pent-up demand channels into the secondary market, where buyers must acquire shares from existing holders.
The OpenAI comparison tells a different story. On Forge Global, OpenAI trades at approximately $880 billion, just 3% above its early-2026 primary valuation of $852 billion. According to Caplight, which tracks private-market share activity, the ratio of sellers to buyers in OpenAI shares was five-to-one in Q1 2026, a reversal from late 2025 when buyers dominated. Glen Anderson described interest in OpenAI shares as “tepid” this year, with bids often below the company’s last primary valuation.
Jesse Leimgruber, founder of AI startup OpenHome and a holder of secondary Anthropic shares, told Business Insider that one “very prominent growth fund” offered to buy Anthropic shares at a $1.05 trillion implied valuation.
It’s critical to understand that secondary market valuations differ fundamentally from primary fundraising rounds. They reflect what a buyer is willing to pay for illiquid, minority shares with no guarantee of liquidity, no board rights, and no ability to force a sale or IPO. A $1 trillion secondary price does not mean Anthropic could raise that amount in a primary round, nor that a future IPO would be priced at that level.
The Business Insider article noted reports of “feverish demand” and buyers offering homes as collateral for Anthropic shares, language that describes speculative intensity rather than fundamental valuation. Anthropic is reportedly exploring an IPO as early as late 2026.
(Source: The Next Web)
