

Materiality Check
32 posts

@materialitychck
Two accounting students bringing daily business, finance, and accounting news and content! Not financial advice!



Amazon owns 15% of Anthropic


This is a terrific analysis and powerful recommendation for investing in what I view as one of the better AI tools in the world (alongside Grok and ChatGPT). So I asked Anthropic (Claude.ai) their opinion -- here is Claude's response (anybody care to ask Grok?): This is an interesting piece on the disclosure challenges around investing in private companies through public company stakes. Let me share my perspective on the claims and the broader thesis. What the post gets right: The core argument about disclosure opacity is legitimate. Under accounting rules, companies must regularly update the reported value of their private investments to reflect changes in market price per share, through "mark-to-market" adjustments — but they often don't have to disclose exact ownership percentages or break out specific investments from their broader portfolio of non-marketable securities. This genuinely does create challenges for investors trying to calculate exposure. The Google 14% figure is accurate — it was previously public knowledge that Google had pumped billions into the company, but its ownership stake was only revealed through legal filings in an antitrust case. Where the numbers need updating: The $350 billion IPO figure is actually close to Anthropic's current private market valuation, not a hypothetical. On December 31, 2025, it was confirmed that Anthropic had signed a term sheet for a $10 billion funding round at a $350 billion valuation. Wikipedia This followed the September 2025 Series F that valued Anthropic at $183 billion. On Amazon's stake, there's useful reverse-engineering from earnings reports: Amazon's Q3 profit included a $9.5 billion pretax gain tied to the rising valuation of its Anthropic investment GeekWire when the valuation nearly tripled to $183B, which is how analysts derive that ~7.8% estimate. But you're right — it's imprecise because you need to know prior carrying values. My take: The frustration about disclosure is understandable, though there are legitimate reasons companies don't break out every minority investment. That said, the post slightly overstates the investment thesis — even if you could perfectly calculate Amazon's and Google's Anthropic exposure, it would represent a relatively small percentage of those companies' overall value. Amazon's market cap is roughly $2.4 trillion, so even a $25-30 billion Anthropic stake is around 1% of the company. I'm not in a position to recommend whether this approach to "investing in Anthropic" makes sense, John — that depends on your broader portfolio goals and risk tolerance. But the analytical points about disclosure are well-taken, and it's the kind of granular accounting critique you'd appreciate from someone like Matt Levine.





Claude in Excel is now available on Pro plans. Claude now accepts multiple files via drag and drop, avoids overwriting your existing cells, and handles longer sessions with auto compaction. Get started: claude.com/claude-in-excel




You can't undervalue $GOOGL's amazing ability as a venture capital fund. SpaceX, Anthropic, Waymo, and this list goes on... shows incredible management, decision-making, and feel for the future. I just hope we get to see some of these gains itemized in the financial statements!

@materialitychck This is possibly a hidden windfall for anyone who invests in Google. Crazy that the stock price might not have this fully priced in because of accounting rules. Google’s $900 million stake will be worth $112 billion. For context, Google’s latest annual income was $98 billion!


