Last updated: October 24, 2026
Daniela Amodei is the co-founder and president of Anthropic, the AI company behind Claude. Her brother, Dario, is the CEO and sets the vision. She runs the business. That includes daily operations, the commercial side and the executive team. Anthropic has confidentially filed to go public and is expected to make its filing public soon. She is one of the most powerful people in AI, and one of the least known.
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Quick facts
Full name: Daniela Amodei
Born: 1987, San Francisco, California
Role: Co-founder and president, Anthropic
Education: BA in English literature, University of California, Santa Cruz (2009)
Family: Younger sister of Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei. Married to Holden Karnofsky, co-founder of Open Philanthropy.
Previous jobs: Stripe (2013–2018), OpenAI (2018–2020)
Honors: TIME100 AI (2023), TIME100 (2026, with Dario), Fortune Most Powerful Women (No. 22, 2026)
Estimated net worth: Forbes estimates about $15.5 billion. Bloomberg estimates about $8 billion. (Unverified; see below.)
Who is Daniela Amodei?
Daniela Amodei grew up in San Francisco. Her father, Riccardo Amodei, was a leather craftsman from Tuscany, Italy. Her mother, Elena Engel, was born in Chicago and worked as a project manager for libraries. Her father died when she was a young adult.
She went to Lowell High School and played classical flute. She studied English literature at UC Santa Cruz. She did not study computer science. She has joked about it: “What is this lady actually good at? She doesn’t have a law degree. She’s not a computer scientist.”
After college she worked in global health and international development. Then she worked on a congressional campaign in Pennsylvania and in the office of Rep. Matt Cartwright.
In 2013 she joined Stripe, the payments startup, when it had about 40 employees. She started in recruiting and later worked on risk. She stayed for almost six years.
In 2018 she joined OpenAI. She managed teams during the development of GPT-2 and became vice president of safety and policy. Dario was there too, running research.
At the end of 2020, the siblings left OpenAI with a small group of colleagues. In 2021 they started Anthropic. The co-founders included Jared Kaplan, Chris Olah, Tom Brown, Sam McCandlish and Jack Clark. Anthropic is set up as a public benefit corporation. It says it puts safety at the center of how it builds AI.
The split of roles has stayed the same. Dario handles vision, research and policy. Daniela runs the company. She says the two of them meet in the middle most of the time when they disagree.
Career timeline
2009: Graduates from UC Santa Cruz with a degree in English literature.
Early 2010s: Works in global health and development, then in politics, including for Rep. Matt Cartwright (D-Pa.).
2013: Joins Stripe as an early employee. Works in recruiting, then risk.
2018: Leaves Stripe and joins OpenAI.
2018–2020: Manages teams at OpenAI and becomes VP of safety and policy.
Dec. 2020: Leaves OpenAI.
2021: Co-founds Anthropic with Dario and five others. Becomes president.
2023: Anthropic launches Claude. Daniela and Dario are named to the TIME100 AI list.
Dec. 2025: Appears on the cover of Fortune with Dario.
Feb. 2026: Anthropic raises money at a $380 billion valuation.
May 2026: Anthropic raises $65 billion at a $965 billion valuation.
2026: Named to the TIME100 and Fortune’s Most Powerful Women list.
Oct. 2026: Confirms on Bloomberg TV that Anthropic has confidentially filed to go public.
Notable deals & projects
Anthropic’s growth: Anthropic reported about $16.8 billion in revenue in the third quarter of 2026, according to IFR. The Wall Street Journal reported first-half revenue of $16.3 billion and a net loss of $80.7 billion.
The IPO: Anthropic has confidentially filed for an IPO. IFR reported it could make the filing public around Oct. 26 and list in mid-November. Reports say it could raise up to $100 billion at a valuation of up to $2 trillion. (Timing and size unconfirmed by the company.)
Founder control: The Information, via TechCrunch, reported in September that the seven co-founders asked for super-voting shares. Together they would hold 50.1% of the vote as long as at least three of them keep a minimum stake. Anthropic’s Long-Term Benefit Trust would still pick most of the board.
Giving pledge: The co-founders announced in January that they plan to give away 80% of their wealth, according to TechCrunch.
Government work: On Bloomberg TV in October, she said Anthropic was the first AI company on a top-secret government cloud.
Claude Code: Fortune reported Claude Code passed a $2.5 billion annual revenue run rate in February 2026.
Want the full story? Read our profile of her brother — Who Is Dario Amodei? — then subscribe free.
What she’s known for
Running the business: She oversees operations, sales and the executive team at one of the fastest-growing companies in history.
Caution about growth: She has said she is the leader most worried about how fast Anthropic is growing. She prefers to buy too little computing power rather than too much.
A non-technical path to AI: She has an English degree and came up through recruiting, risk and policy.
Hiring advice: She tells founders to go on vacation with a possible co-founder before starting a company.
In the news
Oct. 24, 2026: Anthropic is expected to make its IPO filing public as soon as this coming week. The filing would give the first official look at the company’s finances and the co-founders’ stakes. On Bloomberg TV on Oct. 15, Daniela confirmed the confidential filing but would not discuss timing. She said frontier AI companies need public markets.
Quotes
“I have probably been the leader who’s been the most skeptical and scared of the rate at which we’re growing.” — Fortune, December 2025
“We were running towards something versus running away from something.” — on leaving OpenAI, Stanford GSB, 2026
“If you’re like, ‘Really going to need a vacation to recover from my vacation,’ it might be the wrong choice.” — on picking co-founders, Stanford GSB, 2026
“This is ultimately a bet... we could absolutely be wrong.” — on AI spending, Stanford GSB, 2026
Controversies / criticism
Leaving OpenAI: The Amodeis left OpenAI over disagreements about direction and safety. Anthropic is now one of OpenAI’s main rivals.
Founder control: The reported super-voting plan would give the co-founders majority voting power after the IPO. Governance experts often criticize dual-class shares.
Spending and losses: Anthropic has lost tens of billions of dollars while it builds data centers. Critics question whether AI spending is a bubble.
Pentagon dispute: Anthropic has clashed with the Pentagon over limits on how Claude can be used. Our Dario Amodei page has more.
Jobs: AI critics warn Claude and similar tools will replace workers. Daniela has said job losses so far are “a tiny fraction,” mostly in customer support.
Net worth & money
Forbes estimates Daniela Amodei is worth about $15.5 billion. It bases that on a stake of just over 1.6% of Anthropic at its $965 billion valuation. Bloomberg’s estimate is about $8 billion, based on a stake near 1%. Other reports say each co-founder owns about 2%. The IPO filing should show the real number. Treat celebrity net-worth sites as unverified.
FAQ
Who is Daniela Amodei?
She is the co-founder and president of Anthropic, the company that makes the Claude AI models.
Is Daniela Amodei related to Dario Amodei?
Yes. She is Dario’s younger sister. He is Anthropic’s CEO.
Who is Daniela Amodei’s husband?
She is married to Holden Karnofsky, co-founder of Open Philanthropy, the charity now called Coefficient Giving.
What did Daniela Amodei do before Anthropic?
She worked at Stripe for almost six years, then at OpenAI, where she became VP of safety and policy.
How old is Daniela Amodei?
She was born in 1987, so she is 38 or 39.
What is Daniela Amodei’s net worth?
Estimates range from about $8 billion (Bloomberg) to $15.5 billion (Forbes). Both are estimates.
When is the Anthropic IPO?
Anthropic has filed confidentially. Reports say it could list in mid-November 2026. The company has not confirmed a date.
Further reading
Who Is Dario Amodei? — The Profile
The AI titans locked in an arms race — The Profile
The $18 billion AI unicorn (2024) — The Profile
Who Is Sam Altman? — The Profile
Daniela Amodei on why curiosity is underrated — Stanford GSB
Anthropic’s founders seek voting control ahead of IPO — TechCrunch
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