Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff announced plans to sell the company's stake in the AI startup Anthropic, with proceeds intended to pay down debt. Speaking at the Dreamforce conference, Benioff stated that the investment, which cost Salesforce hundreds of millions of dollars, is expected to be worth tens of billions.
The stake was acquired by Salesforce Ventures in early 2023. The value of Anthropic has surged significantly since then. In February, the company closed a $30 billion round at a $380 billion valuation. By May, a $65 billion Series H round pushed the valuation to $965 billion, making it the most valuable AI startup in the world.
Benioff indicated that the sale would fund an accelerated share repurchase debt facility Salesforce established earlier this year. In March, Salesforce funded a $25 billion accelerated share repurchase—the largest in its history—using newly issued debt, which retired approximately 103 million shares. Selling the Anthropic stake would allow the company to extinguish this debt.
The sale is contingent on Anthropic remaining private, as a public listing or secondary transaction would be required to execute the exit. Benioff offered no specific timeline for the potential sale. Salesforce is also a customer of Anthropic, projecting roughly $300 million in token spending this year.
