Dario Amodei, chief executive officer of artificial intelligence developer Anthropic, earned $18 million in total compensation in 2025, according to the company’s initial public offering (IPO) filing. This figure places Amodei among the middle tier of tech industry executives in terms of pay, surpassing CEOs at Alphabet and Amazon but trailing those at Oracle and Nvidia.
Anthropic is preparing for a potential IPO as early as this autumn that could value the company at over $2 trillion, according to details revealed in the filing. The disclosure highlights that a significant portion of Amodei’s compensation consists of stock awards and other equity-based incentives, a common structure among technology founders that allows them to accumulate wealth through company performance rather than solely through annual salary.
In July 2026, Anthropic’s board approved salary increases for both Amodei and his sister Daniela Amodei, the company’s president, doubling their annual pay to $1.4 million each. Daniela Amodei’s total compensation for 2025 was reported at approximately $164.6 million, largely due to stock and option awards. The board also authorized the issuance of restricted stock units for the siblings in 2026, which are contingent upon meeting certain performance or vesting criteria.
Chief Financial Officer Krishna Rao earned $720,250 in 2025, in addition to being granted options to purchase 14 million shares when he joined in 2024. Rao exercised options valued at $385,285 during the same year. An Anthropic spokesperson declined to comment on the compensation figures.
The rise in CEO pay in the United States has continued to outpace increases in average worker wages, a trend that has drawn criticism amid concerns that emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence may exacerbate economic inequality. The average total compensation for S&P 500 CEOs rose 21% to $22.8 million in 2025, excluding Elon Musk’s extraordinary $158 billion restricted stock plan.
For context, Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai’s reported compensation totaled $10.9 million in 2025, which included $8.8 million allocated for personal security expenses. However, when factoring in the value of unvested stock, Pichai’s "compensation actually paid" reached $213.9 million, reflecting significant wealth accumulation tied to equity holdings.
Industry analysts note that founder-CEOs like Amodei typically own sufficient equity in their companies, allowing them to derive most of their wealth from stock appreciation rather than annual salaries. Anthropic’s IPO prospectus did not disclose the founders’ exact equity stakes, though it suggested these holdings could be worth billions depending on the final IPO valuation.
Anthropic’s compensation structure combines fixed salary, equity awards, and other benefits, aligning with common practices among high-profile technology startups preparing to enter the public markets.