Bay Area Homeowner Offers Property In Exchange For Anthropic Stock

Bay Area homeowner and investment banker Storm Duncan is trying to swap a 13-acre Mill Valley property for Anthropic equity instead of cash. He created a LinkedIn page for the home, describing the move as a "diversification play" because he is "under-concentrated in AI investments relative to the importance of AI in the future, and over-concentrated in real estate." A young Anthropic employee, Duncan says, might be "in the exact opposite scenario." TechCrunch reports: Duncan is asking potential buyers to email him to discuss deal specifics, but he said it would be a private transaction that doesn't require the buyer to sell their stock outright. On LinkedIn, he also said the homebuyer would "continue to retain 20% of the upside value of the shares exchanged for the duration of the lockup period."

Duncan, who described himself as a longtime Bay Area resident who moved to Miami during the pandemic, bought the property in 2019 for $4.75 million. It's currently occupied by "a high-profile VC," he said, but he declined to identify the VC.

Clearly close to the peak of the bubble

[Shisha]

Looks like we're close to the peak of the bubble. The question is which: the AI bubble or the SF property bubble or both?

AZ Ocean Waterfront Property For Anthropic Stock

[Anonymous Coward]

AZ Ocean Waterfront Property For Anthropic Stock

Let me guess...

[Sebby]

He's a rich white a$$hole.

(probability of being wrong: 0%)

Re:

[drinkypoo]

Jealous much?

Self-owns are still owns, but not what you imagined you had there.

Re:Let me guess...

[Valgrus Thunderaxe]

What does his race have to do with this?

Re:

[rickb928]

'this?'

By this, you mean /.? For at least a third of /. race is the preferred tool to attempt to discredit, demean, or dismiss your apparent adversaries.

I expected better from a 6-digit, but hey,

Poor guy is going to lose his house

[Anonymous Coward]

Did AI convince him this was a wise move? I hope someone will talk some sense into him.

Re:

[SumDog]

I don't. I hope he loses all his property as a result of his stupidity. It's unlikely though. Unless local models really close the gap, companies might be permanently dependent on Anthropic after OpenAI implodes.

Re: Poor guy is going to lose his house

[sziring]

Maybe it's a wild way to kick the VC off his property. If the VC is tied to anthropic and his property has a tie in maybe there's a conflict of interest

Loopholes ahoy!

[Fly Swatter]

Someone is getting scammed, and it isn't the current property owner. Lock-up period? upside? That's not selling a property that is futures prediction*...

* Otherwise known as gambling.

Re:

[fatwilbur]

Not sure about the US, but in Canada such a transfer-in-kind transaction would surely be done to avoid capital gains tax. That tax is not paid on a primary residence, and perhaps that's why him not residing in it is mentioned as a factor.

Re:

[stabiesoft]

I'd add that for a young anthropic employee to enter into a binding complex contract with a shark may end up with someone getting eaten. Unless of course the young person opts to rely on the oracle of knowledge AI at work to advise them in this transaction.

This AI startup lets you buy on their website

[expresspotato]

You can buy a share of this AI company right from the website https://connection.app/investo... [connection.app]

Both vastly overvalued

[Rosco P. Coltrane]

That fits...

That deal doesn't make any sense...

[bsdetector101]

would be a private transaction that doesn't require the buyer to sell their stock outright.