As Anthropic’s IPO approaches, CFO Krishna Rao faces a defining test

Good morning. Anthropic CFO Krishna Rao faces a defining question as the AI company prepares to go public: Can extraordinary revenue growth translate into sustainable profitability as the cost of advanced AI systems mount?

Anthropic filed its Form S-1 registration statement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday for a proposed Nasdaq listing under the ticker ANT. Revenue reached $16.29 billion for the six months ended June 30, up from $1.16 billion a year earlier. Net loss totaled $80.75 billion, largely reflecting a $72.39 billion accounting charge tied to changes in the fair value of financing instruments, Fortune reported. Operating loss narrowed to $693 million from $2.14 billion.

Founded in 2021 and led by CEO Dario Amodei, Anthropic develops the Claude family of AI models and products, including Claude Code and Claude Cowork. In May, the company raised $65 billion in a funding round that valued it at $965 billion post-money.

Growth raises infrastructure stakes

Anthropic’s enterprise business is expanding rapidly. As of Sept. 30, more than 11,900 customers generated at least $100,000 in revenue for the company over the trailing 12 months, including approximately 250 that generated at least $10 million.

For Rao, Anthropic’s first CFO, appointed in 2024, financing that growth means securing the computing capacity needed to sustain it without allowing infrastructure commitments to overwhelm the business.

On the Invest Like the Best podcast in May, Rao said he devotes 30% to 40% of his time to compute infrastructure.

“The compute that we procure is the lifeblood of our business,” he said. Anthropic uses Amazon’s Trainium chips, Google’s tensor processing units and Nvidia’s graphics processing units.

Compute and infrastructure expenses reached $8.95 billion in the first half of 2026, up from $2.33 billion a year earlier. Anthropic says it currently makes more than two dollars in revenue for every dollar it spends on computing infrastructure; but that could change if the AI lab is forced to reduce token prices, a risk it warns about in its S-1 filing, Fortune reported.

Although revenue growth has outpaced the increase in this major cost category, that alone doesn’t establish improving unit economics or a clear path to profitability. Other expenses, contractual commitments and future capacity needs will also shape returns.

Investors weigh returns and risks

Dan Ives, a partner and senior managing director at Yorkville Ives & Co., told me the filing is “a watershed event for the tech sector and AI Revolution.” Analysts at the firm highlighted compute constraints, limited shareholder influence and potential conflicts between Anthropic’s public-benefit mandate and financial returns.

“The near term losses are massive, but investors on the IPO will be laser focused on the growth trajectory into 2027 and 2028,” the analysts wrote in a note.

Raj Joshi, senior vice president of Moody’s Ratings Corporate Finance Group, told me in an email that the filing would “shine a brighter light on the AI labs’ finances, as well as contracts with Big Tech companies, enhancing investors’ ability to assess risk across the sector.”

Anthropic also warns that falling behind competitors in developing advanced AI models could weaken demand even as infrastructure costs remain substantial.

For Rao, the test is whether Anthropic can sustain its extraordinary growth while improving operating performance and managing its computing commitments. Investors must weigh that opportunity against competitive pressures and governance risks.

Jamere Jackson was appointed CFO of FedEx Corp. (No. 50), effective Nov. 30. He succeeds Claude Russ, who has served as interim CFO since June 1. Jackson brings extensive experience leading the finance function at several public companies. Most recently, he led both finance and store development at AutoZone, where he has served as CFO since January 2021. Before AutoZone, Jackson served as executive vice president and chief financial officer of Hertz Global Holdings and as chief financial officer of Nielsen Holdings. Earlier in his career, he held a variety of leadership roles at General Electric, including chief financial officer of a division of GE Oil and Gas. Jackson currently serves on the Board of Directors for Eli Lilly & Co, where he is chair of the Audit Committee.

The weekly Fortune 500 Power Moves column tracks Fortune 500 company C-suite shifts—see the most recent edition.

Celia Economides was promoted to CFO of Adial Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: ADIL), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, effective after the company’s reconvened 2026 annual meeting of stockholders. Economides, who will succeed Vinay Shah, brings more than two decades of experience. She joined Adial as EVP of finance in August. Before that, Economides served as CFO and chief business officer of CellCentric, a clinical-stage oncology company. She also served as EVP and CFO of Gritstone bio, Inc. and later as its interim CEO.

Andrea Simon has stepped down as EVP and CFO of MasterBrand, Inc. (NYSE: MBC), a residential cabinet manufacturer. Mark Young was appointed interim CFO, effective immediately. Simon has agreed to remain as an advisor through March 31, 2027. The company has initiated a search for a permanent CFO. Young has served as MasterBrand’s VP and chief accounting officer since joining the company in 2022. He has more than 20 years of finance and accounting leadership experience. Before joining MasterBrand, Young held accounting leadership roles at Cooper Tire & Rubber Company.

Broadridge’s 2026 ProxyPulse report highlights a proxy season marked by fewer shareholder proposals but stronger average support, continued backing for boards and executive compensation, and expanding opportunities for investor participation.

Average support for shareholder proposals rose to 27.9% from 24.3% in 2025, even as the number of environmental and social proposals voted on fell 47%; proposals seeking political-spending disclosures attracted record average support of 42%. Director support remained high, while say-on-pay approval reached a 10-year high of 88.9%.

Retail investors owned 6 billion more shares and voted 2 billion more shares than the previous season, alongside broader adoption of pass-through voting and virtual shareholder meetings. Together, these trends point to sustained support for corporate leadership, more selective shareholder-proposal activity, and an expanding range of tools for shareholder engagement.

Microsoft is offering buyouts to roughly 60,000 employees, or about 27% of its workforce, as the software giant continues to spend heavily on AI, Fortune’s Sebastian Herrera reports. Chief people officer Amy Coleman introduced the new program on Monday, noting that eligible employees include senior leaders, up to vice presidents. Read more here.

“AI will commoditize plenty of tasks, but it will not commoditize the people who know which tasks matter.”

—Jay Kaplan, co-founder and CEO of Synack, writes in a Fortune opinion piece. Synack completed its merger with NetSPI in October. Before founding Synack in 2013, Kaplan worked in computer network operations at the National Security Agency.