Salesforce CEO says Anthropic stake could yield tens of billions
Marc Benioff explained that Salesforce’s investment in Anthropic became a fallback after being blocked from investing in OpenAI, and he believes the bet may generate tens of billions of dollars.
During a recent episode of the Sources Podcast, Salesforce founder Marc Benioff revealed that his company wanted to invest in OpenAI but was barred because Microsoft, which holds about 27% of OpenAI, controls its commercial rights. Consequently, Salesforce chose Anthropic as an alternative, a move Benioff now describes as a “plan B” that could be extremely lucrative. Anthropic’s Claude model already runs behind Salesforce tools such as Slackbot, deepening the collaboration.
Benioff predicts the partnership could generate not just billions but potentially tens of billions of dollars. While Salesforce has not disclosed the exact size of its Anthropic holding, an upcoming IPO for Anthropic could establish a public valuation for the stake. Anthropic is preparing for a possible listing, though timing is unclear, and OpenAI is also weighing an IPO, which Sam Altman says will not occur in 2026.
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The story shows how corporate alliances shape AI development and could create massive future revenues for Salesforce.
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