Banker Offers $4.8 Million California Estate for Anthropic Shares

A tech investment banker has offered to exchange his $4.8 million estate in Marin County, California, for shares in Anthropic, an AI company. The property, located in Mill Valley, includes an infinity pool and views of the San Francisco skyline. It is listed as fully furnished.

Storm Duncan, founder and managing partner of Ignatious, a tech boutique investment bank, stated that he made the offer to acquire more shares in Anthropic. He said the property is a 20-minute commute to Anthropic's offices in San Francisco. Duncan primarily resides in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and owns other properties.

He chose this estate for the trade because he believed it would appeal to Anthropic employees.

Business Insider reported that Anthropic's valuation on secondary markets has reached $1 trillion. This valuation is attributed to the company's revenue growth and its AI-powered coding assistant, Claude Code. Duncan already holds shares in Anthropic from its 2024 funding round. He stated that his firm's use of Claude Code is expected to increase throughput by three times and reduce costs by 50%.

Duncan said he has received multiple offers since posting the deal this week, including from Anthropic employees and early investors. He described the transactions as complex.

“There's probably a decent number of people who are sitting in a one-bedroom apartment in San Francisco even though they're earning $400,000 a year and are worth a $100 million," he said. "But they can't access that because their stock is so illiquid, so this gives them an opportunity to diversify.”

The company did not respond to a request for comment. Some users on X have commented on the offer, with views varying on its implications. Similar exchanges have occurred in the past. In 2005, artist David Choe accepted Facebook stock instead of $60,000 cash for painting murals, resulting in an estimated $200 million value after the company's 2012 public offering.

During the dot-com era, some real estate owners accepted startup stock in exchange for leasing space in San Francisco.