Palantir CEO Alex Karp.Fabrice Coffrini/AFP
- Alex Karp pursued a Ph.D. and invested on behalf of rich European purchasers earlier than founding Palantir.
- The secretive and controversial big-data firm went public in 2020 and just lately posted robust quarterly earnings.
Alex Karp, longtime CEO of information mining firm Palantir, is taking a victory lap on the heels of the corporate’s newest blowout earnings.
Palantir, which creates software program to handle, analyze, and safe information, just lately hit its highest inventory worth since going public in 2020 following an enormous beat on Q3 earnings.
Karp, who has been CEO since 2004, is called an uncommon chief, even by Silicon Valley requirements. He pursued a Ph.D. in philosophy earlier than becoming a member of the startup and generally works from a barn.
Here’s how the 57-year-old Karp acquired his begin, took the helm of the secretive startup, and constructed it right into a multi-billion-dollar firm.
Karp acquired his bachelor’s diploma at Haverford College in Pennsylvania earlier than attending legislation faculty at Stanford University.
Karp met Peter Thiel, one among a number of folks with whom he’d later co-found Palantir, at Stanford University, pictured right here. Getty
After legislation faculty, Karp started engaged on a Ph.D. in philosophy at Goethe University in Frankfurt, Germany, finding out beneath famed thinker Jurgen Habermas.
Karp additionally pursued a Ph.D. in philosophy in Frankfurt, Germany, pictured right here. Pigprox/Shutterstock
Karp is fluent in German and speaks French as effectively.
Around the identical time, an inheritance from his grandfather sparked an curiosity in investing.
Before heading up Palantir, he acquired into investing on behalf of rich purchasers. Stefani Reynolds for AFP by way of Getty Images
According to Forbes, he shortly turned profitable at it and created a London-based agency known as Caedmon Group, named after his center title, investing on behalf of high-net-worth purchasers.
By 2003, Thiel, Karp’s legislation faculty classmate, had already based and bought PayPal to eBay for $1.5 billion.
Palantir was based by a number of Stanford and PayPal alums. John Lamparski/Getty Images
He determined to launch Palantir, together with Stanford pc science graduates Joe Lonsdale and Stephen Cohen, plus Nathan Gettings, a PayPal engineer. By 2004, Karp joined as CEO.
Karp is understood for being an eccentric chief.
Karp is understood for some eccentric conduct. Brendan McDermid/Reuters
He typically wears brightly coloured athletic put on, retains Tai Chi swords in his workplaces, and was recognized to observe martial arts on his Palantir cofounders within the workplace hallways.
Karp is a fan of health and wellness who practices Qigong meditation and retains nutritional vitamins and additional swim goggles stocked in his workplace.
He’s a fan of Qigong meditation. Yasuyoshi Chiba/Getty Images
He instructed Forbes that the one time he is not serious about Palantir is “when I’m swimming, practising Qigong or throughout sexual exercise.”
Despite a internet price of round $5.4 billion by Forbes’ estimates, Karp does not seem to spend lavishly.
Palantir was beforehand based mostly in Palo Alto, California, however since moved its headquarters to Denver. Palantir
Karp has been recognized to generally work out of a barn in New Hampshire. He has by no means been married and instructed Forbes that the thought of beginning a household offers him “hives.”
Palantir can be fairly secretive. Because of the corporate’s contracts, many workers have authorities safety clearances and obtain five-figure bonuses for selecting to stay near the workplace, in accordance with the Journal.
Palantir has courted quite a few controversies through the years.
Palantir has drawn ire for licensing its tech to legislation enforcement. Drew Angerer/Getty Images
The firm has been criticized for licensing its expertise to legislation enforcement, which has used it for practices like predictive policing and monitoring automobiles’ routes utilizing simply their license plates.
Palantir has additionally come beneath hearth for its contracts with US Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Palantir has additionally confronted controversy for its ICE contracts. Reuters/Shannon Stapleton
The firm offers software program that helps the company collect, retailer, and search by means of information on undocumented immigrants. After workers pressed Karp on ending the corporate’s contracts with ICE, he denied that its expertise was getting used to separate migrant households.
Karp has responded to criticism of the corporate’s contracts with the army.
Karp has defended Palantir’s use by army and intelligence companies. Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images
“You could not agree with that and, bless you, do not work right here,” Karp stated in 2023 of tech employees who’ve qualms in regards to the firm’s information mining.
“We do not like people who find themselves coming in and saying, we wish to kill terrorists and simply with out information safety,” he added. “Bless your soul if you wish to distribute carcinogens together with your nice mind within the type of client web.”
The firm went public in 2020.
Palantir started buying and selling on the New York Stock Exchange in September 2020. Noam Galai/Getty Images
It went public by way of a direct itemizing on the New York Stock Exchange in September 2020 at an estimated $20 billion valuation.
Following Palantir’s Q3 2024 earnings report, Karp boasted in regards to the firm’s efficiency and defended himself from critics.
Palantir’s US income elevated 44% year-over-year, it stated in Q3 2024 earnings. Bertrand Guay/Getty Images
“This is a US-driven AI revolution that has taken full maintain,” he stated in an earnings launch. “The world can be divided between AI haves and have-nots. At Palantir, we plan to energy the winners.”
During the next earnings name, he stated, “Given how robust our outcomes are, I virtually really feel like we must always simply go house.”
Responding to criticisms of his management, he stated, “Instead of going into each assembly saying, ‘Oh, sure, Palantir is nice, however their fearless chief is batshit loopy, and he may go off to his commune in New Hampshire,’ no matter factor we’re saying, it is now like, sure, the merchandise are greatest, and now we have nice merchandise.”
Palantir’s inventory was up greater than 13% in after-hours buying and selling Monday following the earnings outcomes, and its US income grew 44% year-over-year.
