Salesforce stake in Anthropic reportedly valued at about $5 billion as AI startup moves toward IPO

Salesforce is reportedly one of the major investors behind Anthropic, the fast-growing AI startup whose path toward an initial public offering is now in focus. Bloomberg reported on June 1 that Salesforce holds a stake in Anthropic PBC worth about $5 billion, citing a person familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified because the information is private.

The report says Salesforce first joined an Anthropic fundraising round in early 2023 with an investment of about $50 million. It then continued participating in later funding rounds, with the overall value of the position reportedly rising as Anthropic attracted larger rounds and higher valuations. Salesforce and Anthropic both declined to comment on the report, according to the same account.

Anthropic’s IPO timeline is also being shaped by a surge in investor attention. Last week, Anthropic announced a $65 billion funding round that valued the company at $965 billion including the capital raised. On June 1, Anthropic also said it had confidentially submitted draft paperwork to regulators for an initial public offering, a step that does not guarantee the timing or outcome of a public listing.

Salesforce’s interest in Anthropic is not just financial. In a Feb. blog post referenced in the report, Salesforce discussed its reasoning for investing in a “research-heavy startup at a meaningful valuation” at a time when it was not obvious whether AI research would translate into commercial success. The post also tied Anthropic’s models to Salesforce’s own product roadmap, stating that Anthropic model capabilities support AI features across Salesforce products, including Slack, its workplace communication platform.

Salesforce, which trades on the New York Stock Exchange under ticker CRM, has increasingly framed its AI strategy around deploying “agentic” assistance inside business workflows. Its operating model is built on enterprise software subscriptions and integrations, and its customers use those systems for sales, service, marketing, and internal collaboration. By aligning with leading AI model developers, Salesforce can potentially speed up delivery of new assistant features and keep pace with competitors in the enterprise software market.

For investors, the reported Anthropic stake adds another layer to Salesforce’s narrative: the company is not only selling AI-enabled software, it also owns equity in AI infrastructure providers. The impact of such stakes is usually more indirect than operating income, because valuations can fluctuate with funding rounds and sentiment rather than day-to-day demand for enterprise licenses. Still, it can affect perceived balance-sheet strength and underscore how competitive the AI investment cycle has become for major platform companies.

There are limits to what can be confirmed from the public reporting. The disclosed details are limited to what Bloomberg reported and what Salesforce and Anthropic did or did not say in response. The exact stake size, cost basis, and whether Salesforce plans to monetize the position are not described in the materials summarized here. Likewise, Anthropic’s confidential IPO filing means regulators have received preliminary documentation, but it does not provide a timetable or guarantee that a deal will proceed.