Palantir Technologies Inc.
Company History
Palantir History: Founding, Growth & Key Milestones
Founded 2003 in Palo Alto, California, United States
When was Palantir founded?
Palantir was founded in 2003 in Palo Alto, California, United States by Peter Thiel, Alexander Karp, Joe Lonsdale, Stephen Cohen and Nathan Gettings, making it 23 years old.
- Founded
- 2003
- Founding place
- Palo Alto, California, United States
- Founders
- Peter Thiel, Alexander Karp, Joe Lonsdale, Stephen Cohen and Nathan Gettings
- Headquarters today
- Aventura (Miami area), Florida, United States
- Milestones documented
- 12 (2003–2026)
- Current CEO
- Alexander C. Karp
- Acquisitions
- 4
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 2003 | Palantir founded |
| 2005 | In-Q-Tel investment |
| 2015 | $20 Billion Valuation |
| 2016 | Court win against the U.S. Army |
| 2016 | Acquired Kimono Labs |
| 2019 | Army Intelligence System Contract |
| 2020 | Direct listing and move to Denver |
| 2023 | AIP launched |
| 2024 | S&P 500 entry and Nasdaq switch |
| 2025 | $4.475 billion in revenue |
| 2026 | Headquarters moves to Miami area |
| 2026 | Q2 revenue up 93% |
- Where was Palantir founded?
- Palantir was founded in Palo Alto, California, United States in 2003.
- Who founded Palantir?
- Palantir was founded by Peter Thiel, Alexander Karp, Joe Lonsdale, Stephen Cohen and Nathan Gettings.
- When did Palantir start?
- Palantir was founded in 2003.
- How old is Palantir?
- Palantir is 23 years old as of 2026.
- How did Palantir start?
- Palantir was founded in 2003 by Peter Thiel, Alex Karp, Stephen Cohen, Joe Lonsdale and Nathan Gettings.
Founding Story
Following the September 11 terrorist attacks, PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel observed that Western intelligence agencies failed not from a lack of information, but from fragmented, siloed data systems unable to connect complex dots. Thiel had previously overseen the development of PayPal's 'Igor' algorithmic fraud-detection engine, which successfully uncovered complex cross-border financial crime syndicates in real time. Recognizing that similar pattern-recognition architectures could transform counter-terrorism and national defense, Thiel incorporated Palantir Technologies in 2003 alongside Stanford alumni Alex Karp, Stephen Cohen, Joe Lonsdale, and Nathan Gettings. In 2005, the CIA's venture capital arm, In-Q-Tel, injected $2 million in seed funding and opened the doors to intelligence community field deployments. By embedding forward-deployed software engineers directly alongside military analysts in active conflict zones, Palantir built Gotham, transforming raw, disconnected data streams into unified operational intelligence.
Founders
Peter Thiel
Peter Thiel came up with the idea for Palantir after 9/11, betting that the link-analysis methods PayPal used against fraud rings could help intelligence analysts find terrorist networks. He recruited his Stanford Law classmate Alex Karp as CEO, provided much of the early funding, and named the company after the seeing stones in Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. Thiel remains Palantir's chairman and, through Class F shares held with Karp and Stephen Cohen, part of the founder group that controls a large share of the vote. Peter Thiel was born in 1967 in Frankfurt. Education: Stanford Law School; San Mateo High School.
Alexander Karp
Alexander C. Karp has been Palantir's CEO and a director since 2004. He led the company through its September 2020 direct listing, its first GAAP-profitable year in 2023, S&P 500 inclusion in 2024, and the 2026 headquarters move to the Miami area. Karp often argues in public that Western technology companies should support democratic militaries, and he co-wrote the 2025 book 'The Technological Republic'. He is one of Palantir's largest individual shareholders and holds Class F voting shares. (Exact birth year remains publicly undisclosed).
Joe Lonsdale
Joe Lonsdale joined Palantir's founding team in 2003, shortly after finishing Stanford, and worked on early operations and business development. After leaving the company he co-founded Addepar and OpenGov, started the venture firm 8VC, and co-founded the Cicero Institute policy group. (Exact birth year remains publicly undisclosed).
Stephen Cohen
Stephen Cohen co-founded Palantir in 2003 as a Stanford computer science student and helped build its early engineering culture and software architecture. He serves as Palantir's President and a director, and he is one of the three holders of Class F founder shares, along with Karp and Thiel. Stephen Cohen was born in 1982 in California. Stephen Andrew Cohen was born on September 30, 1982. He is credited with building the first Palantir prototype in eight weeks and has interviewed more than 4,500 job candidates for the company. Before Palantir he worked with Peter Thiel at Clarium Capital.
Nathan Gettings
Nathan Gettings was part of Palantir's 2003 founding team and contributed engineering experience from PayPal's anti-fraud work to the company's early data-integration technology. He later left Palantir and co-founded the fintech company Addepar with Joe Lonsdale. Nathan Dale Gettings served as Palantir's chief technology officer. He later co-founded RoboteX, where he was chief executive, and Affirm, where he was chief risk officer. (Exact birth year remains publicly undisclosed).
Key Milestones
Palantir founded
Peter Thiel, Alex Karp, Stephen Cohen, Joe Lonsdale and Nathan Gettings founded Palantir in Palo Alto to build data-fusion software for counterterrorism.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgIn-Q-Tel investment
In-Q-Tel, the CIA's venture arm, invested about $2 million, giving Palantir early access to intelligence-community users.
Source: en.wikipedia.org$20 Billion Valuation
Palantir raised funds in 2015 at a valuation of about $20 billion.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgCourt win against the U.S. Army
The U.S. Court of Federal Claims ruled that the Army had to consider commercial products such as Palantir's in its DCGS-A procurement. The Federal Circuit upheld the ruling in 2018.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgArmy Intelligence System Contract
The US Army chose Palantir in March 2019 to build its DCGS-A battlefield intelligence system, in a contract worth more than $800 million.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgDirect listing and move to Denver
Palantir moved its headquarters to Denver and listed directly on the NYSE on September 30, 2020, under the ticker PLTR.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgAIP launched
Palantir launched its Artificial Intelligence Platform and posted its first full year of GAAP profit, $209.8 million.
Source: palantir.comS&P 500 entry and Nasdaq switch
Palantir joined the S&P 500 on September 23, 2024, and moved its stock listing from the NYSE to Nasdaq in November 2024.
Source: en.wikipedia.org$4.475 billion in revenue
FY2025 revenue rose 56% to $4.475 billion, and net income reached $1.625 billion.
Source: sec.govHeadquarters moves to Miami area
Effective February 17, 2026, Palantir's principal executive office became 19505 Biscayne Boulevard, Aventura, Florida.
Source: investors.palantir.comQ2 revenue up 93%
Q2 2026 revenue reached $1.935 billion, and Palantir raised its full-year guidance to $8.150-$8.158 billion.
Source: businesswire.comMajor Acquisitions
Kimono Labs
2016Talent and technology acquisition of a web-data extraction startup; the Kimono service was shut down after the deal.
Silk
2016Acquisition of a data visualization and publishing startup whose team joined Palantir.
Synapse Technology Corporation
2020AI-powered automated threat detection.
FT Technologies
2015Advanced sensor technology.
Keep researching Palantir
Palantir Company History FAQ
What are the major historical milestones of Palantir Technologies since 2003?
Key milestones include: 2003 founding in Palo Alto; 2005 seed backing from In-Q-Tel; 2008 launch of Palantir Gotham; 2016 commercial introduction of Palantir Foundry; 2020 direct listing on the NYSE and HQ move to Denver; 2021 launch of Palantir Apollo; 2022 achievement of first GAAP profitable quarter; 2023 rollout of AIP; and 2024 inclusion in the S&P 500.
What role did Palantir software play in tracking Osama bin Laden and global terrorist networks?
While government operations remain classified, widespread media and defense reports credit Palantir Gotham with providing the intelligence synthesis, geospatial tracking, and link-analysis infrastructure that helped U.S. special operations forces locate Osama bin Laden and dismantle ISIS terror financing cells.
How did Palantir transition from a secretive government contractor to a commercial leader?
Recognizing that Fortune 500 corporations faced the exact same data fragmentation challenges as intelligence agencies, Palantir developed Foundry in 2016. It secured transformative commercial anchor partnerships with Airbus, BP, and Merck, proving its software could optimize commercial supply chains and manufacturing.
How was Palantir's direct listing executed on the New York Stock Exchange in 2020?
On September 30, 2020, Palantir went public via a Direct Public Listing (DPL) on the NYSE under ticker 'PLTR', allowing existing shareholders to sell shares directly without issuing dilutive new shares or paying large underwriting fees to Wall Street investment banks.
What was Palantir's role during the COVID-19 pandemic response?
Palantir software was deployed by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (Tiberius platform) and the UK National Health Service to track vaccine supply chains, allocate therapeutic treatments, monitor hospital ICU capacities, and coordinate nationwide distribution logistics.
How has Palantir supported Ukraine in the Russia-Ukraine conflict?
Palantir partnered with the Ukrainian government and armed forces, deploying Gotham and AIP to provide real-time battlefield situational awareness, commercial satellite imagery analysis, damage assessments, refugee tracking, and evidence documentation for international war crimes tribunals.
How did the launch of AIP in 2023 transform Palantir's growth trajectory?
The launch of AIP (Artificial Intelligence Platform) in 2023 met surging enterprise demand for generative AI. By providing an actionable, secure ontology layer for LLMs, AIP triggered rapid U.S. commercial revenue growth and established Palantir as an indispensable AI leader.
What is the long-term vision of Palantir Technologies for the next decade?
Palantir's long-term vision is to become the fundamental operating system for modern Western civilization, powering mission-critical defense operations, autonomous military systems, resilient global supply chains, healthcare breakthroughs, and enterprise AI automation across all major industries.
Related Strategic History
Compare founding milestones and corporate evolution
Explore Palantir
Core profile pages, founders and related research hubs for this company.