Anthropic was preparing the largest IPO in history — a listing during the week of November 16 that could raise as much as $100 billion at a $1.5 trillion valuation, surpassing the record set by Elon Musk's SpaceX in June.

Now, according to The Wall Street Journal via The Jerusalem Post, three major investors who intended to participate say the valuation will have to be reduced, with one suggesting a figure closer to $1 trillion — roughly a third lower — and another floating a cut in the raise from $100 billion to about $80 billion.

The company filed publicly in late October, with final price and size still undecided.

Until weeks ago, pre-IPO chatter pointed to a $2 trillion target, and traders on decentralized markets valued the Claude maker even higher, Pasquale Pillitteri reports.

The reversal is stark: the last official valuation, set in a May round, was $965 billion, so even the reduced $1–1.25 trillion range investors now discuss sits well below the original ambition.

Pasquale Pillitteri calculates the shift in revenue multiples — from roughly 30 times annualized revenue at $2 trillion down to 15 at $1 trillion.

The trigger was a brutal tape: the Nasdaq fell 5.5% on November 5, its worst session since April 2025, erasing about $2.5 trillion in market value after midterm elections raised fears Democrats will slow AI data center build-outs.

Anthropic's fundamentals complicate the bear case. The Jerusalem Post, citing the Journal, reports annualized revenue exceeded $80 billion at the end of October, driven by Claude Code and expanding business adoption, and the company held roughly $146.6 billion in cash as of September 30.

But extraordinary funding needs for computing infrastructure and model development remain a concern, and Pasquale Pillitteri notes third-quarter revenue of $16.8 billion marked a slowdown from a second quarter that had more than doubled since the start of the year. Analyst Gil Luria of D.A.

Davidson argues the market needs this IPO to succeed, so banks should price it with room left for buyers.

A delayed or downsized Anthropic debut threatens the wider AI market.

Its fortunes are tied to Google, Amazon and Nvidia, and the listing was seen as a key test of demand for advanced AI companies — Renaissance Capital's Matt Kennedy told Reuters, per Pasquale Pillitteri, that the outcome could open or slam shut the IPO market for all of 2027.

OpenAI, which has reportedly raised about $11 billion of a cut $20 billion round at roughly $1.25 trillion, would face an awkward yardstick if Anthropic falls.

Anthropic executives and advisers are expected to meet in the coming days; the company has deliberately avoided a definitive valuation, target or timetable, leaving room to adjust.