US Gov Lost $4.7 Billion By Selling FTX’s Anthropic Shares Early

The US Marshals Service sold Anthropic shares seized from two FTX executives during 2025. Anthropic tripled in value that same year.

Caroline Ellison and Nishad Singh invested $50 million in the company in 2022. Both of them directly helped FTX funnel customer funds through a backdoor and into private investments. A judge stripped them of the stake after they pleaded guilty.

The Year Anthropic Tripled

Ellison paid $10 million while Singh paid $40 million, and both ended up holding Series B preferred stock. A federal judge signed Ellison's final forfeiture order on February 18, 2025, court records show.

Singh's followed in April, and the Marshals then sold both blocks to investors already on Anthropic's cap table.

Timing mattered enormously, because Anthropic closed a round at a $61.5 billion valuation on March 3, 2025. Six months later, it closed another round at $183 billion.