Alex Karp

At a moment when businesses are wondering how to earn a return on AI investments, Palantir cofounder and CEO Alex Karp seems to have figured it out. The AI data analytics company turned profitable in 2023, and was added to the S&P 500 in September, sending its stock to new highs. The company’s long-standing relationships with government agencies, particularly in the realm of national security, have given it an edge at a time of heightened geopolitical instability. With a PhD in philosophy and a law degree from Stanford, Karp, who has helmed Palantir since the company’s founding in 2003, is an outspoken proponent of a strong U.S. military and a firm foreign policy against adversaries—a worldview that, not coincidentally, is good for Palantir.