Anthropic shares seized from FTX executives sold in 2025

The U.S. Marshals Service sold Anthropic shares forfeited by former FTX executives Caroline Ellison and Nishad Singh during 2025, according to an Aug. 31 Business Insider report citing a person familiar with the transaction.

Ellison and Singh purchased the shares for a combined $50 million during Anthropic’s 2022 Series B financing. Singh invested $40 million, while Ellison invested $10 million.

Federal courts later transferred their ownership interests to the U.S. government through criminal forfeiture proceedings connected to the FTX fraud case. However, the Marshals Service has not publicly confirmed the sale, identified the buyers or disclosed how much the government received.

Federal courts transferred the Anthropic shares in 2025

Ellison and Singh pleaded guilty to criminal charges arising from the collapse of FTX and Alameda Research. Both cooperated with prosecutors and testified against FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried.

U.S. Government Sold Anthropic Stakes in 2025 That Former FTX Executives Bought Cheaply in 2022

According to Business Insider, the U.S. government seized Anthropic shares held by former FTX executives Caroline Ellison and Nishad Singh and sold them to existing investors in… pic.twitter.com/L8Bx3f0KGh

— Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) August 31, 2026

Bankman-Fried was convicted of fraud and money laundering in November 2023. A federal judge sentenced him to 25 years in prison in March 2024.

Ellison served as chief executive of Alameda, while Singh worked as FTX’s engineering director. Their sentencing arrangements required them to forfeit assets, including their personal Anthropic holdings.

A court order finalized Ellison’s forfeiture in February 2025. The order identified Series B preferred shares acquired through a Simple Agreement for Future Equity purchased for $10 million in March 2022.

The government reportedly obtained Singh’s shares through a separate final order in April 2025. His attorney said during sentencing that Singh had purchased the shares before participating in the criminal conspiracy and “may have had a legitimate legal claim” to them.

Singh nevertheless surrendered the shares under his plea arrangement. His attorney told Business Insider that Singh wanted the sale proceeds distributed to FTX victims quickly.

U.S. Marshals reportedly sold to existing investors

Business Insider reported that the Marshals Service sold the combined holdings to existing Anthropic investors sometime during 2025. The publication attributed the information to one person with knowledge of the sale.

That account has not been independently confirmed through a Marshals Service announcement, public auction record or court filing identifying the purchasers.

The precise sale date remains unknown. The buyers, number of shares, transaction structure and price were also not disclosed.

The timing matters because Anthropic completed several funding rounds at rapidly increasing valuations. The company was valued at $61.5 billion in March 2025 before reaching $380 billion during another round in early 2026.

Anthropic announced a $65 billion Series H financing in May 2026 at a $965 billion post-money valuation. The company said its annualized revenue had exceeded $47 billion before the financing.

UCLA professor Olav Sorenson estimated that the shares may have been worth between $300 million and $1.1 billion when the government sold them, depending on the transaction date. PitchBook analyst Harrison Rolfes provided a lower estimated range of $250 million to $630 million.

These figures are outside estimates. Neither the Marshals Service nor Anthropic has confirmed the sale valuation.

Current $5B estimates do not show the sale proceeds

Based on Anthropic’s May valuation, Sorenson estimated that Ellison and Singh’s former holdings could now be worth between $4.17 billion and $5.03 billion. Rolfes estimated a current value of approximately $2.62 billion.

The wide range reflects uncertainty about dilution, security terms and the precise number of shares obtained through the original investments. Private-company shares can also carry transfer restrictions and different rights from shares issued in later rounds.

A reported secondary-market valuation of $1.5 trillion would produce an even higher theoretical value. However, secondary indications involving a limited number of shares do not necessarily represent the price available for the entire company or a large block of restricted stock.

Comparing those estimates with the original $50 million investment does not measure a confirmed government loss. The government acquired the shares through forfeiture without paying their original purchase price.

It is also unknown whether the Marshals Service could legally or practically have held the private shares through later financing rounds. Its complex-assets unit generally seeks to liquidate forfeited property while preserving recoverable value rather than operating as a long-term venture investor.

The sale is separate from the FTX bankruptcy estate’s liquidation of Bankman-Fried’s Anthropic investment. As crypto.news previously reported, the FTX estate sold its remaining Anthropic shares for $452 million in June 2024.

Together with an earlier transaction, the bankruptcy estate received approximately $1.3 billion from Anthropic shares originally purchased for $500 million.

FTX victims have not received identified sale proceeds

Prosecutors said during Ellison’s sentencing that forfeited assets could be returned to victims through remission. Unlike court-ordered restitution, remission is administered by the Justice Department.

The large number of potential FTX victims made an individual restitution process impractical, according to court filings. Prosecutors discussed either creating a separate claims system or coordinating with the FTX bankruptcy estate, where creditors substantially overlap with fraud victims.

Business Insider found no indication that proceeds specifically attributable to Ellison’s and Singh’s Anthropic shares had reached the bankruptcy estate by the end of June 2026.

The estate reported receiving $638 million from Justice Department-controlled assets during 2025. Bankruptcy filings indicate that nearly all of that amount came from Robinhood shares previously linked to Bankman-Fried.

The estate expects approximately $400 million more from the government, including proceeds from cryptocurrencies and other investments. It has not identified the Anthropic sale as part of that expected amount.

The Marshals Service declined to discuss the transaction. A Justice Department representative said asset-sale and victim-compensation information was confidential.

The department said the matter remained ongoing and that it “prioritizes victim compensation from forfeiture.” That statement does not confirm that the Anthropic proceeds will be transferred to the FTX estate or paid through a separate remission process.