ChainThink reports that on May 9, according to The Wall Street Journal, Anthropic is preparing a massive funding round with a potential valuation exceeding $900 billion. Its first CFO, Krishna Rao, has adopted unconventional tactics, including repeatedly discouraging investors by claiming the company has not yet raised funds, rejecting the highest market valuations offered, opting to raise less capital than expected, and providing conservative revenue projections.
Rao joined Anthropic in May 2024, having previously worked at Airbnb and Blackstone. During the 2020 pandemic, he secured a $1 billion lifeline for Airbnb under urgent circumstances. While at Blackstone, his poker experiences earned him the nickname "Chairman Rao" among colleagues.
Anthropic’s CEO, Dario Amodei, has a distinctive style, while Rao steps in to manage the backdrop.
Currently, Anthropic is experiencing massive popularity due to Claude Code, with its April revenue run rate surpassing $30 billion. Rao faces a difficult decision on whether to lock in hundreds of billions of dollars in computing power contracts for 2027 to 2029, while simultaneously enduring extreme personal strain.