“The Big Short” Investor Michael Burry on Wednesday highlighted that the valuation of startup Anthropic equals the value of 78 companies in the S&P 500 index.

The “Fun Game”

Burry took to social media to highlight the stark contrast between established corporations and current tech sector valuations. He described analyzing the discrepancy as a “fun game in times like these,” calculating how many publicly traded firms an investor could purchase using what he termed a “bubble private company valuation.”

The list of 78 companies Anthropic’s valuation could theoretically acquire includes household brands and established industrial firms. Burry specifically pointed to Domino’s Pizza Inc. (NASDAQ:DPZ), Clorox Co. (NYSE:CLX), The JM Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM), Stanley Black & Decker Inc. (NYSE:SWK), Deckers Outdoor Corp. (NYSE:DECK), Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ:LULU), McCormick & Company Inc. (NYSE:MKC), Tractor Supply Co. (NASDAQ:TSCO), NVR Inc. (NYSE:NVR), Albemarle Corp. (NYSE:ALB), FedEx Freight Holding Company Inc. (NYSE:FDXF), News Corp. (NASDAQ:NWSA), and Alliant Energy Corp. (NASDAQ:LNT).

The group also features Kimco Realty Corp. (NYSE:KIM), Hormel Foods Corp. (NYSE:HRL), Weyerhaeuser Co. (NYSE:WY), DaVita Inc. (NYSE:DVA), Zimmer Biomet Holdings Inc. (NYSE:ZBH), Lennox International Inc. (NYSE:LII), Masco Corp. (NYSE:MAS), A.O. Smith Corp. (NYSE:AOS), MGM Resorts International (NYSE:MGM), Wynn Resorts Ltd. (NASDAQ:WYNN), Brown-Forman Corp. (NYSE:BF), Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:NCLH), and Huntington Ingalls Industries Inc. (NYSE:HII).

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Historical Pre-IPO Comparison

To contextualize the scale of current private market pricing, Burry pointed to the era before the year 2000 for a historical benchmark. He noted that the largest inflation-adjusted valuation before an initial public offering between 1990 and 2000 belonged to United Parcel Service Inc. (NYSE:UPS).

Burry said UPS held the largest inflation-adjusted pre-IPO valuation of the 1990-2000 period, at $119 billion. He emphasized that this historic peak was grounded in established metrics, noting the price represented 26 times the company’s earnings with a net margin of approximately 8.6% and traded at 2.4 times sales.

Anthropic’s Market Position

While Burry did not specify the exact Anthropic valuation figure he used for his 78-company calculation, the startup reached a $965 billion valuation during a private funding round in May 2026. —

The company has filed a confidential prospectus and is reportedly preparing for a potential initial public offering that could seek a valuation of up to $2 trillion.

This pricing persists despite the company’s current financial profile. Anthropic’s revenue rose nearly 12-fold to $4.6 billion in 2025, while its operating loss widened to $8.06 billion, per a Reuters report. The company reported a roughly $42 billion net loss, although about $34 billion of that figure stemmed from an accounting charge related to financial instruments that could eventually convert into Anthropic shares.

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Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.

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