Anthropic is now worth more than OpenAI on secondary markets. The Claude maker hit a $1 trillion valuation on Forge Global, jumping from $380 billion just three months ago. OpenAI sits at roughly $880 billion. That's a reversal in a space where Sam Altman's company has always been the default leader.
The numbers behind the surge are real. Anthropic's annualized run rate climbed from $9 billion in late 2025 to $39 billion by March 2026, according to Business Insider. Developers have been flocking to Claude Code, and partnerships with Amazon and Palantir are paying off.
But the valuation is also being driven by something weirder: there simply aren't enough shares available, even as investors ghost OpenAI to chase Anthropic.
Investors report getting unsolicited offers daily. Anthropic investor Jesse Leimgruber said on X that a growth fund offered him a $1.05 trillion valuation for his stake. People are literally offering to trade property for shares, according to a LinkedIn post.
Bradley Horowitz, a partner at Wisdom Ventures and early Anthropic backer, told Business Insider that for many investors, "it's almost less about the return than being able to say they're an Anthropic investor." Glen Anderson, CEO of Rainmaker Securities, called it "an epic run" and said "right now, Anthropic is in the pole position."
When prestige ownership matters more than returns, you're watching a frenzy, not a market.
The irony is thick. Dario and Daniela Amodei left OpenAI in 2021 over disagreements about safety and commercialization. They built Anthropic to prioritize responsible AI development. Now their company is being valued like Apple circa 2018, and investors are treating shares like beachfront property. The safety-first company became the hottest trade in tech.