Meet Alex Karp, the reclusive billionaire who can’t drive, but can mine data – the CEO of Palantir, which has CIA and FBI ties, backed Kamala Harris, loves cross-country skiing, and teaches meditation

Jan 13 , 2025

Palantir Technologies CEO and co-founder Alex Karp (right), at a forum with Elon Musk. Photo: @guygruber/Instagram

The co-founder of data-mining giant Palantir has a passion for extreme fitness, believes in mindful living, and admits to being a dreamer … which is the reason he won’t drive

During the run-up to the 2024 US presidential election, billionaire American businessman Alex Karp broke ranks with many of his comrades in Silicon Valley in their support for Republican Donald Trump, choosing instead to back Democrat Kamala Harris.

Nicknamed the “billionaire man of mystery”, Karp, 57, keeps a relatively low profile and rarely gives interviews. He has, however, been outspoken in his support for the Democrats, saying that his friend and Palantir Technologies co-founder Peter Thiel’s support for Trump made things “harder” to get done, according to Fortune.

Billionaire Alex Karp keeps a low profile. Photo: @quantummobile1/Instagram

Karp co-founded Palantir with Thiel, his Stanford law friend, in 2003. The pair soared to Silicon Valley fame as their data mining company saw big investment from the CIA and partnered with government agencies to establish patterns and data insights.

But who is the man behind Palantir? From an isolated life to being extra fit, here is what you need to know about Karp.

Palantir’s success

Palantir Technologies does work for government agencies around the world: Alex Karp meets Volodymyr Zelenskyy, President of Ukraine. Photo: @palantirian/Instagram

Karp has an estimated net worth of US$7.7 billion, with much of his wealth stemming from Palantir. Per Forbes, Karp is the co-founder and CEO of the firm, which received early support from CIA investment arm In-Q-Tel.

According to the magazine, Palantir does work for government agencies including the Department of Defense, FBI and Danish police. Per The New York Times, Palantir’s name was inspired by the magical seeing stone in J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings. The company was widely credited with locating Osama bin Laden, although this has never been verified.

His connection with Peter Thiel

According to Forbes, Karp met Thiel while at Stanford Law School. Karp described the period at Stanford as “the worst three years of my adult life”. He said that when he met Thiel they became friends, with Karp telling The New York Times magazine they “argued like feral animals” about issues such as socialism versus capitalism, one a “crazy leftist” the other a “crazy right-wing person”.

After Stanford they reconnected, in 2002, with Thiel believing he could figure out how to find terrorists using data patterns. Karp said Thiel picked him as co-founder of Palantir, despite his having to learn about coding on the job.