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Bloomberg reports that former Google CEO Eric Schmidt owns about 1% of Anthropic, after investing tens of millions in the AI lab's 2021 Series A round when it was valued at $461 million. That stake is roughly half the 2% reportedly held by Anthropic co-founder and CEO Dario Amodei.
Anthropic told private investors its revenue grew 45 percent to nearly $17 billion, according to the Wall Street Journal. Critics and some investors say that figure falls far short of what's needed to justify the company's anticipated $2 trillion valuation, with Reuters reporting some investors are now considering a lower valuation of roughly $1.5 trillion.
Apple's stock rose 0.5% to close at $342.96, pushing its market valuation to $5.01 trillion, the first time the company has ended a trading day above that threshold after six prior intraday crossings. The close came even as most major tech stocks, including Oracle, Meta, Nvidia, Microsoft, Amazon and Google, finished the day lower.
Tom Matthesen, who leads business advisory at Balentine, says business owners commonly overlook four areas—capital planning, talent, earnings quality, and succession planning—because daily operational pressures crowd out longer-term review. He argues these issues are interconnected, so weakness in one area tends to create problems in the others. Matthesen recommends owners address capital strategy proactively rather than waiting until a funding need arises from an acquisition or shortfall.
German robotics startup RobCo has surpassed a $1 billion valuation through a secondary share sale that let long-tenured employees cash out part of their equity. Existing backers Sequoia, Lightspeed, Greenfield, Kindred, Lingotto and Promus Ventures joined new investors Cherry Ventures and European Tech Collective in the round, which follows a $100 million Series C announced in January 2026. The company plans a 2027 commercial launch of its autonomous robot Alfie, with a focus on expanding in the US manufacturing market.
As roughly $5 trillion in business value is expected to change hands amid a wave of owner retirements, buyers are becoming more selective about which companies they acquire. Reporting indicates purchasers are willing to pay more for businesses that have a clear, visible culture that can survive the departure of the founder.
Letterboxd, the social network for film enthusiasts, is reportedly close to being sold at a valuation of $300 million, according to sources cited by the New York Times. Potential buyers named include A24, Sony, and the New York Times itself, though no deal has been finalized.
Crusoe, the company behind construction of one of OpenAI's largest data center projects, has closed a $3.9 billion funding round valuing it at nearly $31 billion. The company is now expanding into factory-built, smaller-scale data centers alongside its large infrastructure work.
Investors have approached OpenAI proposing a fresh funding round that could value the company at $1.2 trillion, though no formal talks have begun, according to people familiar with the matter. Some backers see the round partly as a mechanism for employees to sell shares, similar to the roughly $7 billion secondary sale OpenAI completed in August following its $122 billion raise at an $852 billion valuation in March.
OpenAI has held early talks with investors about raising fresh capital at a valuation exceeding $1.2 trillion, according to reports. The round would come as the company prepares for a widely expected public listing next year.
Italian software company Bending Spoons is acquiring workplace collaboration platform Miro in a $1.36 billion cash deal, valuing the equity at $1.79 billion. That figure represents a roughly 92% drop from the $17.5 billion valuation Miro commanded in late 2021 during the pandemic-driven remote work boom. Despite the steep markdown, Miro reports $600 million in annual recurring revenue, over four million paying users, and profitability with $435 million in net cash.
Wonderful, an AI startup founded only last year, has reached a $5 billion valuation and already employs 650 people. The company is now expanding its forward-deployed engineering teams globally as it works toward a workforce of 1,000.