Robinhood CFO Shiv Verma describes the race for retail allocation in mega-IPOs like Anthropic’s as a “food fight.”
- Robinhood is urging companies to dedicate a larger portion of shares to everyday traders.
- Verma sees a 20-25% retail footprint in the overall equity market.
- Anthropic filed for an IPO on October 26, with capex plans soaring to nearly $900 billion.
Robinhood Markets Inc.(HOOD) is locked in a competitive race with other major retail brokerages to secure lucrative share allotments for Anthropic PBC’s upcoming mega-initial public offering.
According to Robinhood Chief Financial Officer Shiv Verma, the firm actively aggregates share requests from its customer base and presents that volume directly to the companies going public and their managing underwriters.
“It’s a food fight out there, so we’re going to let our demand speak for itself, and then let the companies decide,” Verma noted in an interview to Bloomberg Television.
HOOD stock slipped about 1.4% on Monday.
Rising Influence Of Retail Traders
The scramble for retail allocation mirrors previous high-profile market debuts. When SpaceX went public in June, platforms like Robinhood, Charles Schwab Corp.(SCHW), Fidelity Investments, SoFi Technologies Inc.(SOFI), and Morgan Stanley’s E*Trade fiercely competed for enhanced allotments.
Ultimately, all eligible customers who requested shares through these platforms received a portion of stock, bridging a traditional gap where retail investors often faced disadvantages in pre-IPO access.
Verma highlighted that SpaceX allocated roughly 15% to 20% of its offering to retail investors—comparable to the 20% share allocation Robinhood designated for retail clients during its own public debut.
“What we are making sure the companies know is, retail is here, they are a force to stay, and given they’re 20% to 25% of the equities market, they should consider a large allocation to retail,” Verma said
Anthropic’s Market Debut
The high-stakes lobbying comes as Anthropic, the developer behind the Claude chatbot, formally filed on October 26 for an IPO expected to materialize before the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday. Adding to the market momentum, the artificial intelligence firm disclosed sweeping future investment plans exceeding $895 billion.
During its third quarter ending September, Anthropic generated roughly $17 billion in revenue and a net loss of $23.29 billion.
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