Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt owns about 1% of the artificial intelligence lab Anthropic. Bloomberg reported this on October 19, 2026, citing sources familiar with the matter. According to the publication, Schmidt invested tens of millions of dollars in the company's Series A round in 2021. TechCrunch followed on October 20 with additional details: at the time, PitchBook valued Anthropic at $461 million. By TechCrunch's math, Schmidt's fortune could grow substantially amid the expected IPO.
How the news spread
Bloomberg's original report was published on October 19, 2026. It attributed the information about Schmidt's stake to people directly familiar with the situation. A day later, on October 20, TechCrunch reporter Marina Temkin — a journalist covering venture capital and startups — covered the Bloomberg story in a brief commentary with added detail. The piece, citing PitchBook data, noted the company was valued at $461 million in the 2021 Series A round. It was published on TechCrunch in the site's short-news format on October 20.
Both outlets noted that Schmidt and Anthropic did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Bloomberg also stressed that it is unknown whether Schmidt has sold any of his original stake since 2021.
How Schmidt's stake took shape
Schmidt's investment dates back to 2021, when he took part in Anthropic's Series A round and put in tens of millions of dollars. PitchBook data shows the startup was valued at $461 million in that round. In other words, Schmidt was among the AI lab's earliest investors — he committed capital long before the company reached its current scale.
The roughly 1% stake today is the result of that tens-of-millions investment from back then. According to Bloomberg, it is still unclear whether any of that stake was sold over the years, so the 1% figure is presented as an estimate based on available information.
Stake size: a comparison with Amodei
One percent may look small, but against the stakes held by company leadership it is significant. TechCrunch's comparison:
"Schmidt's roughly 1% stake is nearly half of the 2% of the company held by founder and CEO Dario Amodei," wrote TechCrunch.
The ratio shows Schmidt's stake is close in scale to the founder and CEO's personal holding. In other words, the former Google chief's stake is only about half the founder's — a large figure for an outside early-stage investor.
From $461 million to $2 trillion: the valuation math
The numbers show the scale of the investment clearly. While Anthropic was valued at $461 million in 2021, high market estimates for the company today reach $2 trillion — these are press estimates, not a figure the company has officially confirmed. Still, the gap between the two figures is roughly 4,300x: the early-stage $461 million valuation has multiplied a thousandfold over five years. Put differently, in a high-valuation scenario every dollar invested in 2021 would theoretically have become $4,300.
By TechCrunch's calculation, if the IPO valuation hits the upper bound — $2 trillion — Schmidt's 1% stake could add as much as $20 billion to his personal fortune. Bloomberg currently values Schmidt's wealth at $57.5 billion. So a single early-stage investment could create additional value worth more than a third of his current fortune — though the calculation rests on the high-valuation scenario, and the final IPO price is still unknown.
IPO expectations
Anthropic's stock market debut before the end of 2026 is widely expected — the Bloomberg story on Schmidt was published against exactly that backdrop, ahead of the IPO. High estimates of the company's market value reach $2 trillion.
Anthropic's IPO preparations have been reported before — our site published a story on that topic.
Schmidt's other AI investments
Schmidt has been an active technology investor since leaving the Google CEO role in 2011. He invests through three vehicles: Tomorrow Ventures, Innovation Endeavors Management, and his family office Hillspire.
Anthropic is not his only AI bet. According to TechCrunch, Schmidt's other artificial intelligence investments include Mistral, General Intuition, and Reflection AI. The former Google chief has thus been an early-stage investor in several major AI projects.
