Wall Street giants Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley are locked in a fierce rivalry over the hotly anticipated Anthropic I.P.O., one of the largest public offerings expected this year. Anthropic named both banks as lead underwriters, a role that brings millions in fees and significant prestige. In the prospectus, Goldman holds the coveted “lead left” position, while Morgan Stanley serves as the stabilization agent responsible for smoothing trading on the first day. The setup mirrors last year’s Space X offering, where both banks also split a roughly $500 million fee pool, each receiving about $100 million.
The two banks have been competing for months for their roles on the Anthropic deal, with official assignments only confirmed in the past week. Both have arranged investor meetings with Anthropic executives. On Monday, additional major tech financings were announced: Goldman was the sole bank on a $40 billion debt raise for Space X’s AI expansion, while Morgan Stanley helped Meta raise up to $98 billion in stock. Goldman also acted as stabilization agent on the Meta deal, marking its return after years of absence.
Both banks are enjoying banner years driven by the AI boom. Goldman Sachs reported a 29% jump in profit and 23% revenue growth, while Morgan Stanley saw profits rise 6.5% and revenue climb 12%, both exceeding analyst estimates. The high-profile exposure from top roles in landmark I.P.O.s helps the banks market their services and attract wealthy clients to their private wealth divisions. Goldman quickly publicized its lead left position and involvement in the Space X debt deal to clients, underscoring the competitive stakes in securing marquee tech mandates.
Source: New York Times Business · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing