Major financial institutions are locking horns over more than just a slice of Anthropic PBC's highly anticipated initial public offering. They are also fiercely competing to manage the considerable personal fortunes that the artificial intelligence company's staff are expected to accumulate once it goes public.

Sources familiar with the discussions indicate that wealth management divisions from Goldman Sachs Group Inc, Bank of America Corp, BNY Mellon, JPMorgan Chase & Co, and Wells Fargo & Co have been in talks with Anthropic. The company is reportedly seeking to provide its employees with a curated list of financial advisors to assist them in handling their prospective windfalls.

Per insiders, Anthropic has requested these institutions to present their wealth management offerings, including detailed information on fee structures, service level, and operational specifics. A request for proposals was circulated in recent weeks, drawing responses not only from banking giants but also from smaller boutique firms and independent advisory groups.

While Silicon Valley has long been a generator of new millionaires, Anthropic stands out as the latest entity likely to create substantial wealth for its workforce through its IPO. Many of these employees, however, may lack the necessary expertise to manage such sudden affluence. For context, SpaceX's public offering raised USD 86.2 billion, and projections suggest Anthropic could secure a comparable or even larger amount when it lists in the coming weeks.

Brandon Smith from Laird Norton Wetherby, a firm that submitted a proposal to Anthropic and has already engaged with several of its employees, stated it is "very reasonable" to anticipate the IPO creating a fresh wave of millionaires. He remarked, "Given the explosive growth in AI over a remarkably short period, even equity grants issued just two years ago could translate into extraordinarily large sums. It's akin to winning the lottery."