Marin County tech entrepreneur Vijay Chattha had been watching from the sidelines as artificial intelligence startup Anthropic’s value soared. The San Francisco company has been minting fortunes for insiders, while, as a private company, its equity remained off-limits to everyone else.
Then he realized he had a potential bargaining chip: A freshly remodeled three-bedroom estate in Wine Country with a bocce court, new pool and coveted vacation rental status.
He put his Healdsburg-area home on the market for a listing price of $2.5 million, but with an unusual alternative: He’d accept $2 million worth of Anthropic stock instead. His real estate agent blasted out the pitch in a press release: “Healdsburg Vacation Rental Offered for Anthropic Stock at a $500,000 Discount.”…