Alex Karp is the co-founder of Palantir Technologies, a big data business. According to Forbes, the organization undertakes contract work for government agencies such as the Department of Defense, the FBI, and the Danish National Police.
In August of this year, he joined the select list of black billionaires in the United States with a net worth of $2 billion. The performance of his 2.63 percent ownership in Palantir Technologies, which he co-founded in 2003 with Peter Thiel, Nathan Gettings, Joe Lonsdale, and Stephen Cohen, was credited with the increase in his fortune.
According to Forbes, his current net worth is estimated to be $1.8 billion, placing him 2133 on the list of the world’s richest billionaires.
The billionaire, 55, was raised in Philadelphia, where his parents were a pediatrician and an artist, respectively. He received his bachelor’s degree from Haverford College in Pennsylvania before attending law school at Stanford University, where he met PayPal cofounder and venture capitalist Peter Thiel.
He began his Ph.D. studies in philosophy at Goethe University in Frankfurt, Germany. During that time, he received an inheritance from his grandfather, which he used to invest in businesses and stocks.
According to Forbes, he became successful in investing, which led to the formation of the London-based Caedmon Group, which invests on behalf of high-net-worth clients. He would later work with Londsdale, Cohen, Gettings, and Thiel at Palantir.
He became CEO in 2004 despite having no technical training, and he attracted some early European angel investors. However, American venture funders remained uninterested in Palantir until it was referred to In-Q-Tel, the CIA’s venture arm, which made two rounds of investment totaling more than $2 million, according to Forbes. Palantir’s patron and lone customer until the company’s customer base increased, and it is now a big data company, thanks largely to Karp’s leadership.
According to reports, the millionaire is an eccentric leader who frequently wears brightly colored athletic wear, performs martial arts, keeps Tai Chi swords, and can solve a Rubik’s cube in under three minutes.
Karp is also passionate about health and wellness. He is said to practice Qigong meditation and to have vitamins and additional swim goggles at his workplace.
Despite his wealth, Karp is not a big spender. He allegedly owns property in Palo Alto, California, where Palantir is headquartered, and also operates out of a barn in New Hampshire.
The millionaire has also been involved in various issues involving his company. According to the Insider, he has been chastised for selling its technology to police authorities, who have used it for predictive policing and tracking the itineraries of cars using only their license plates.