00:00Here's what startup founders need to watch this week.
00:02Anthropik's 7 co-founders now hold just over half of all voting rights,
00:06through a single share of Class F common stock.
00:08Think about that for a moment.
00:09A company that has raised billions from outside investors
00:12still lets its founders keep control.
00:14It's Wednesday, October 28th.
00:16Let's look at what this means for startups and entrepreneurs in Korea.
00:19Anthropik is set to list publicly,
00:21and its investor filing reveals a governance structure built on dual-class shares.
00:26Under Delaware general corporate law,
00:28shareholders can agree to design voting rights by share class.
00:31The seven co-founders form a new limited liability company,
00:35the Founder LLC, which holds a single Class F share.
00:38That structure gives them 50.1% of voting power,
00:42even after outside investors come in.
00:44Class F stock is common among late-stage startups
00:46that have taken in large outside investment, including Palantir.
00:50Class B shares can also carry multiple votes,
00:53which lets founders keep control of board elections
00:55even as their equity stakes shrink.
00:56Here's what the numbers show.
00:57Elon Musk holds about 85% of SpaceX's voting power
01:01through Class B shares.
01:02Mark Zuckerberg controls roughly 60% of Meta's votes in the same way.
01:06Anthropik also set up a long-term benefit trust in 2023,
01:10which helps select board members.
01:11But the trust cannot remove the CEO,
01:13Dario Amodei,
01:15or his sister,
01:16President Daniela Amodei.
01:17Both founders also gave up their dividend rights.
01:20So what does this mean for founders weighing their own fundraising options?
01:23South Korea takes the opposite approach.
01:25Its one-share, one-vote principle is the default.
01:29Qualifying unlisted venture founders can receive up to 10 votes per share,
01:33but only for up to three years after listing.
01:35Byron Dieter, a partner at Bessemer Venture Partners,
01:38argues that multiple votes allow leadership to focus on real innovation rather than short-term results.
01:43For Korean founders, the message is clear.
01:46Control can be designed,
01:47but Korea's rules still limit how long it lasts.
01:50Before you raise,
01:51understand exactly what you are giving up and what you are keeping.
01:54What to Watch
01:55Anthropics Public Listing
01:57and its Dual Class Governance
01:59That's today's AI Prism
02:00Founders
02:01This episode was produced with AI Assistants based on Seoul Economic Daily reporting.
02:06AI Prism is a Juan IFRA award-winning series.
02:09We'll be back tomorrow.
