Anthropic IPO — aiming at SpaceX's $86.2bn record, with a public filing possible this month
Anthropic, which filed a confidential draft S-1 with the SEC on June 1, 2026, could file publicly as soon as the end of August, Bloomberg reported. The target is a raise matching or exceeding SpaceX's $86.2bn record set in June, at a post-listing valuation near $2 trillion. OpenAI has pushed its own listing to 2027
The three lines
- Size — the goal is to match or beat SpaceX's $86.2bn raise. If it lands, the largest IPO on record
- Timing — confidential S-1 filed June 1; public filing possible from late August, with listing widely expected around October
- Order — with OpenAI slipping to 2027, the first AI lab to face public markets will be Anthropic
Key questions
- When is the Anthropic IPO?
- No date is fixed. Two things are established. Anthropic submitted a draft registration statement on Form S-1 to the SEC confidentially on June 1, 2026, and Bloomberg reports it could file that document publicly as soon as the end of August. A public filing is normally followed by a roadshow and pricing, so the listing itself would come some weeks later. Market expectations cluster around October, but that is forecasting, not announcement. The company has published neither a listing date nor a ticker.
- How big is SpaceX's record?
- $86.2bn. More precisely, SpaceX raised $75bn in its initial offering when it debuted in June 2026, and the total climbed to roughly $86.2bn once the overallotment option was exercised. That stands as the largest IPO on record. Anthropic is reported to be targeting that figure or more, at a post-listing valuation near $2 trillion — above the $1.77 trillion SpaceX reached. This page covered the SpaceX listing on August 5 in 'SpaceX stock (SPCX): three businesses inside one company.'
- Why did OpenAI fall behind?
- OpenAI is also preparing to list, but its timeline has moved to 2027. It was reported to have filed confidentially in late May with a September target before the schedule slipped. Behind the reordering sits revenue: as this page covered on August 21 in 'Anthropic passes OpenAI on quarterly revenue,' Anthropic overtook its rival for the first time. That said, both companies' revenue figures vary by outlet because neither is a public filer, so the comparison should be read with that in mind. No company statement explaining OpenAI's delay was located.
IPO records do not fall often. When SpaceX raised $86.2bn in June 2026, that one looked settled for a while.
Two months later, a company is aiming at it. Anthropic.
1. What is established
| Item | Status |
|---|---|
| Confidential S-1 filed | June 1, 2026, with the SEC |
| Public filing expected | as soon as late August |
| Target raise | equal to or above SpaceX's $86.2bn |
| Target valuation | about $2 trillion post-listing |
| Banks | Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan (others possible) |
| Listing date / ticker | not announced |
Only the first row is confirmed. The rest is sourced reporting or matters still under negotiation. Bloomberg itself noted that discussions, including the ultimate size, are ongoing and could change.
The $2 trillion figure in particular is not a number the company has stated. Within the range this page checked, Anthropic's only public statement is that it submitted a draft S-1 confidentially.
2. What $86.2bn looks like
| Company | Listing | Raise | Post-listing valuation |
|---|---|---|---|
| SpaceX | June 2026 | $75bn ($86.2bn with overallotment) | $1.77tn |
| Anthropic (target) | not set | $86.2bn or more | about $2tn |
SpaceX's record was built in two stages. The initial offering raised $75bn, and demand ran hot enough that the overallotment option was exercised, taking the total to roughly $86.2bn.
An overallotment lets underwriters sell more shares than the base offering, then draw additional stock from the issuer to cover it if the price holds above the offer price. It is the place where stronger-than-expected demand shows up as a number. For SpaceX that added $11.2bn.
For Anthropic to beat the record, the same thing has to happen at greater scale.
3. The order has flipped
A year ago, asked which AI lab would list first, the answer was OpenAI. Not now.
| Company | Confidential S-1 | Public filing | Listing target |
|---|---|---|---|
| Anthropic | June 1, 2026 | as soon as late August | not set (October widely expected) |
| OpenAI | late May 2026 | not set | moved to 2027 |
OpenAI was reported to be targeting a September listing before its schedule slipped to 2027. No company statement explaining the delay was located.
Revenue sits behind the reordering. This page covered it on August 21 in "Anthropic's Q2 revenue passes OpenAI's for the first time."
A caveat belongs with that. Revenue figures for both companies vary by outlet, because the numbers come from sources rather than filings — Anthropic's Q2 revenue has been reported both as $10.9bn and as $11.6bn. Private companies have no disclosure obligation, and this is what that absence looks like.
Which is exactly what makes this listing consequential. When the public S-1 lands, revenue, costs, profit and loss, and contract structure appear in audited form. Numbers that have circulated as attribution become a document.
4. The other number from the same week
On August 20–21 a second figure tied to Anthropic surfaced: Broadcom is in talks to raise more than $60bn in debt to fund AI chips for Anthropic and others.
Placed side by side, the structure becomes visible.
| Direction | Size | Nature |
|---|---|---|
| Anthropic IPO | $86.2bn+ (target) | raising money through equity |
| Broadcom AI chip financing | $60bn–$100bn (in talks) | building capacity with debt |
The equity market and the credit market are opening at the same time around the same company's compute. This page covers the debt side separately in "Broadcom seeks more than $60bn in debt."
5. What is unresolved
- Deal size and price — not fixed. "$86.2bn or more" is a target under discussion.
- $2 trillion — sourced reporting, not company disclosure.
- October listing — an estimate from prediction markets and research firms.
- Bank syndicate — three named, others possible.
- OpenAI's delay — no company explanation found.
- What to watch next — the public S-1, expected from late August. When it appears, the revenue, profit and customer structure this page has so far reported only at second hand become audited figures. This page will check the numbers in this article against that document when it lands.
Sources
- Bloomberg — Anthropic Expects to Match or Top SpaceX's Record IPO Size
- Yahoo Finance — Anthropic targets IPO to match or beat SpaceX's record raise
- Anthropic — Anthropic confidentially submits draft S-1 to the SEC
- Fortune — Fortune Tech: Anthropic IPO, Trump digs data centers, SuperMicro's investigation
- Tech Startups — Anthropic eyes $2 trillion valuation in IPO that could top SpaceX as biggest ever
- Kaohoon International — Anthropic to File for IPO by Month's End, Aiming to Beat SpaceX's Record