Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei reportedly received $18 million in total compensation in 2025, placing his pay above several major technology executives but below the industry’s highest-paid leaders.
Amodei’s compensation was disclosed in Anthropic’s IPO filing, Reuters reported. Stock awards, options, and other incentives accounted for most of Amodei’s compensation. His annual salary represented only a relatively small portion of the overall package.
Anthropic doubled the salaries of Amodei and President Daniela Amodei to $1.4 million each in July. Daniela Amodei received $16.4 million in total compensation during 2025, as per the report.
The board also awarded both executives additional restricted stock units tied partly to continued employment and the company’s IPO, the report noted. Chief Financial Officer Krishna Rao earned $720,250 and exercised $385,285 in hiring-related options last year.
Anthropic did not immediately respond to Benzinga’s request for comments.
Anthropic Eyes IPO With Founder Control
Anthropic is preparing for a potential IPO as early as fall 2026, with the offering potentially valuing the AI company at more than $2 trillion. Amodei’s package exceeded reported compensation for CEOs at Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) (NASDAQ:GOOG) and Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), while remaining below the pay packages at Oracle Corp. (NYSE:ORCL) and Nvidia Corp. (NASDAQ:NVDA), according to the report.
Amazon CEO Andrew Jassy’s reported 2025 compensation was $2.1 million, largely tied to travel and security-related expenses. When measured by "compensation actually paid," Jassy received $13.2 million. At the same time, Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai received $10.9 million in reported compensation in 2025, including $8.8 million in personal security costs. On a "compensation actually paid" basis, his earnings totaled $213.9 million, reflecting changes in the value of his unvested stock awards, the report added.
Anthropic is reportedly seeking shareholder approval for a new dual-class share structure that would give Amodei and six co-founders majority voting control after the AI company goes public. The founders’ special shares would represent 50.1% of votes on many corporate matters, with control continuing as long as at least three founders maintain a minimum stake.
The structure would increase their governance influence without giving them a larger economic interest and would spread control across seven founders rather than a single founder.
Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
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