Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei made $18 million in 2025: How it compares with tech peers

Dario Amodei made $18 million last year as CEO of Claude AI developer Anthropic, the company's IPO filing shows, putting him in the middle ranks of top executives at major technology firms in terms of compensation.

Anthropic is preparing for an IPO as early as this fall that could value it at more than $2 trillion, according to its IPO prospectus seen by Reuters. Amodei's pay last year puts him above CEOs at Alphabet and Amazon, but behind those at Oracle and Nvidia.

Amodei's pay leans heavily towards stock and other sorts of compensation, suggesting that like many other tech founders, his yearly salary will account for just a fraction of his wealth.

Dario Amodei and his sister, Anthropic President Daniela Amodei, each had their annual salaries doubled this past July to $1.4 million. Stock and options awards made up the bulk of their packages in 2025, with Daniela Amodei receiving a total of $16.4 million last year.

Anthropic's board this year granted the pair the promise of further equity in the form of restricted stock units, which promise a future payout if certain conditions are met. Some of that is tied to their remaining at the company, and some of it is tied to the IPO.

Chief Financial Officer Krishna Rao earned $720,250 last year. He was granted options to buy 1.4 million shares when he was hired in 2024, and exercised options worth $385,285 in 2025.

An Anthropic spokesperson declined to comment on the figures.

MIDDLE OF THE PACK

The rise in US CEO pay in recent years has far outpaced the gains for the average worker, a dynamic critics worry could be exacerbated by AI's widespread adoption.

S&P 500 CEO average annual compensation rose 21% to $22.8 million last year, and that does not include the extraordinary case of Tesla's Elon Musk and his $158 billion restricted stock plan, according to the AFL-CIO.

Amazon CEO Andrew Jassy made $2.1 million in 2025, a disclosure said, mainly reflecting travel and security. On an "actually paid" basis, Jassy received $13.2 million.