Each person holds about 2% of shares, yet collectively commands 50.1% voting power: Anthropic founders’ IPO strategy

This then raises a question: Can the founding team still determine the company’s long-term direction? This new dual-class stock structure cleverly decouples “economic interest” from “control”: The newly created special-class shares carry no additional economic rights—such as enhanced dividends—but grant the founding team a robust moat, ensuring that the core team retains firm strategic control even amid charitable donations and equity dilution. A distinctive governance mosaic: Board, trust, and employees’ “deciding vote” Of course, although Anthropic will grant its founders 50.1% of voting power, this does not mean they will exercise absolute control over the company. According to The Information, Anthropic preserves a unique oversight and balancing mechanism for electing its most critical board seats: First, the Long-Term Benefit Trust (LTBT) maintains checks and balances: Anthropic’s current board comprises seven seats (one currently vacant). Under its existing bylaws, the authority to appoint the majority of directors rests not with shareholders but with the “Long-Term Benefit Trust.” Under the new structure: ・ The trust retains appointment authority over the majority of directors; ・ The founders’ nomination slots on the board will be slightly expanded—from two to three seats. This reveals Anthropic’s attempt to strike a balance between two forces: on one side, the founders’ long-term vision; on the other, independent governance mechanisms and external capital oversight. Second, beyond the founders, insiders report that Anthropic plans to issue a special class of shares to employees—shares that would serve as a “tie-breaking vote” in the event of deadlocks or tied votes on certain critical corporate matters. Why Palantir? As noted earlier, Anthropic’s move is not original—it draws inspiration from Palantir’s founder-control model. At its IPO, Palantir designed a special equity structure: Its three founders—Peter Thiel, Alex Karp, and Stephen Cohen—hold special-class shares via a Founder Voting Trust. These shares enable the founders to collectively command nearly half the voting power. Per Palantir’s public filings, its Class F shares are structured so that, upon meeting minimum shareholding thresholds, the founding team may hold up to 49.999999% of total voting power. Anthropic’s plan closely mirrors this: ・ Ordinary investors receive economic rights; ・ Founders receive enhanced voting rights; ・ Control is deliberately separated from economic ownership. The key difference lies in scale and composition: Palantir’s model centers on three founders, whereas Anthropic seeks to establish a collective control mechanism among seven co-founders—a design relatively rare among large technology companies. Yet Anthropic’s experiment reflects a broader, emerging challenge facing the AI industry as it enters public capital markets: How should an AI company—requiring over a decade of investment and potentially shaping society’s future—be governed?

"The Unfaithful Partner" TI (with internal CEO letter from Avnet)

With a 98-year history, our supplier portfolio has continuously evolved. Today’s product lineup looks vastly different from what it was 10, 20, or 30 years ago. We’ve weathered similarly major shifts in the past—and always recovered. This situation is no different. While we naturally hope to sustain our long-standing relationship with Texas Instruments (TI), we respect their decision and remain focused on creating new opportunities for our world-class supplier partners across the globe. As we transform into a technology solutions company, we are expanding into new domains less vulnerable to such disruptions. For instance, through our strategic initiatives in IoT, Avnet Integrated, and Farnell, we are diversifying our business to capture higher-margin opportunities. Our position during this transition is markedly stronger than it was just a few years ago—and I am confident we are exceptionally well-positioned going forward. We possess a broad product portfolio, a comprehensive ecosystem, and a capable, determined team fully equipped to navigate any change. Last year—also in the fall—Texas Instruments announced its separation from Xinye Electronics. Little did anyone expect that, barely a year later, Avnet—the other major TI distributor—would likewise be abandoned by this “unfaithful partner.” Relationships begin with mutual affection; breakups, however, each come with their own grievances and justifications—even “players” have their reasons and sorrows. 1. TI has consciously cultivated habits among end customers to request samples directly and complete registration forms—bypassing distributors altogether. All end-user sample requests must be registered via TI’s MY TI portal, and once users search for any information on TI’s official website, TI’s backend automatically captures their browsing history and demand signals. It is said TI already possesses customer data on nearly 80% of its clients—with dedicated sales representatives assigned even to mid-to-large-sized accounts. 2. TI has built sales networks across numerous Chinese cities, established DSP laboratories, and assembled an exceptionally strong technical support team—effectively retaining full control over sales, customers, marketing, and engineering. 3. Rumors began circulating as early as early 2019 that TI planned to terminate Avnet’s distributorship. From the start of this year, Avnet’s internal teams had been anxiously anticipating this very outcome. 4. External economic pressures have intensified corporate restructuring and consolidation among manufacturers. For example, after Broadcom acquired Avago Technologies for $37 billion and rebranded as “New Broadcom,” it slashed its distributor network—cutting ties with Avnet, Arrow, and Sekorm, leaving only Xinlei, Wenye, and Quanke. Major manufacturers increasingly favor leaner channels and direct engagement with end customers—a clear industry trend. 5. Earlier this year, rumors swirled of a major internal shake-up at Avnet: A senior regional leader in East China was dismissed, and his entire team laid off—primarily due to “hoarding and speculation” (commonly known as “chip flipping”). Such practices have long been an open secret within the component distribution industry—and are sometimes tacitly permitted, or even actively encouraged, by upstream manufacturers. Typically, manufacturers turn a blind eye—yet precisely at this sensitive juncture, such an incident occurred. On one hand, it confirms Avnet’s operational shortcomings; on the other, it signals TI’s premeditated intent to sever ties—using the incident merely as convenient justification. Why investigate now, not before? Why announce the breakup immediately after the investigation? The logic is painfully simple: When a man loves you, even your pores look beautiful to him; when he no longer loves you, everything you do seems wrong. An “unfaithful partner” will always find a reason to break up—and behind those lofty, rational-sounding justifications lies one fundamental truth: He simply no longer wants you.

Avient (AVNT) CEO receives 126,455 stock units with vesting scheduled for 2029 and 2031.

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Avient Corp CEO Michael J. Frank received 126,455 restricted stock units on October 13, 2026, vesting in installments during 2029 and 2031 per SEC filing.

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Avient (AVNT) CEO receives 126,455 stock units with vesting scheduled for 2029 and 2031.

Avient (AVNT) CEO receives 126,455 stock units with vesting scheduled for 2029 and 2031.

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