Investor offers $8M Bay Area real estate for Anthropic shares ahead of potential IPO

Storm Duncan, founder of Ignatious investment bank, is proposing to exchange $8 million worth of Bay Area real estate, including a $4.8 million home and an 11-acre property, for stock options in AI startup Anthropic. The deal targets Anthropic employees holding large, illiquid share amounts before the company's possible IPO this year. Duncan views this as a diversification move, shifting from real estate exposure to AI, and values Anthropic at around $800 billion. The property has not been publicly listed but has attracted some interest through a LinkedIn listing. Duncan plans to transfer shares after the IPO lockup period and acknowledges the challenge in finding the right seller due to the emotional nature of home purchases.