Anthropic IPO: CFO Krishna Rao’s shares, options could be worth $703 mn | India Business News
Bengaluru: Krishna Rao, Indian-origin chief financial officer of Anthropic, holds 9.4 million shares in the artificial intelligence company. At the midpoint of its proposed IPO price range of $70-78 per share, the holding carries a gross notional value of about $703 million (approximately Rs 6,300 crore).According to Anthropic’s updated IPO prospectus filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, Rao holds 9,497,900 shares. He is not among the shareholders selling shares in the IPO, and his shareholding will remain unchanged after the offering. The $703 million valuation is indicative and does not represent the amount he would realise from a sale, as the holding includes equity-linked awards and stock options.Rao joined Anthropic as CFO in April 2024 and was granted options to purchase 14 million shares of Class A common stock under the company’s 2021 Stock Plan. The options carry an exercise price of $1.30 per share and expire on May 30, 2034. As of Dec 31, 2025, he held 5.7 million exercisable options and another 8.16 million unexercisable options. During 2025, he exercised options covering 76,980 shares, realising $385,285.Before joining Anthropic, Rao was CFO of Fanatics Commerce, an online sports merchandise and retail platform, from May 2023 to April 2024. He previously served as CFO of healthcare technology company Cedar from July 2021 to May 2023. Between Oct 2015 and July 2021, he held several positions at Airbnb, including global head of corporate and business development and director of financial planning and analysis.Before Airbnb, Rao was a principal in the private equity group at Blackstone from Sept 2011 to Sept 2015. He began his career as a strategy consultant at Bain, where he worked from Sept 2005 to July 2008. He holds a JD from Yale Law School and an AB in economics from Harvard College.Rao received a salary of $706,250 in 2025, along with $14,000 in other compensation, taking his total compensation to $720,250. He did not receive any stock or option awards during the year, according to the company’s executive compensation disclosure.Anthropic revised its executive severance arrangements in Oct this year. Under the new agreement, Rao is eligible for 12 months of base salary, 12 months of continued health coverage and acceleration of 12 months of equity vesting for outstanding awards subject to time-based vesting if his employment is terminated without cause or he resigns for good reason, subject to specified conditions.The agreement also retains provisions for accelerated vesting of outstanding equity awards in the event of a qualifying termination in connection with a change of control.
Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com