Palantir is profiting from the “revolving door” of executives and officials, as well as officials passing between senior positions in Washington and Westminster, creating an impact The networks that guide their extraordinary growth.
Peter Thiel, the billionaire chairman of the U.S. Group, has been a major supporter of Donald Trump, whose strong sales rise in government contracts and stocks traded with the world’s largest companies Prices rose surprisingly.
Detailed findings from the Tech Transparency Project (TTP), analysing transparency disclosures and dozens of work moves obtained by the Financial Times, as well as public records in the U.S. and UK, show how Palantir widely hires governments that are crucial to sales from government agencies mechanism.
Analysis reveals the vast network of influence of the U.S. group, which includes: deep connections to its largest client, the Department of Defense; a six-fold increase in US lobbying spending over the past decade; and a nonprofit foundation to fund academics Research and shape policy discussions.
According to federal records, Palantir has won more than $2.7 billion in U.S. contracts since 2009, including more than $1.3 billion in Pentagon contracts. Data provider Tussell said in the UK, Palantir’s contract awarded more than £376 million. Palantir declined to comment.
Bill Hartung, a senior fellow at Quincy Leady Contecraft, said the company’s executives “have fingerprints in both Trump’s transition and administration.”
“Silicon Valley once said ‘we don’t have to lobby because we have great products’, but now it’s all politically.”
Palantir believes that due to its market-leading ability to analyze complex information sets, its data analytics products include customer needs including BP and Hertz. Its technology is commendable for helping kill Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, who distributed the Covid-19-19 vaccine and convicted financier Bernard Madoff ).
Palantir head Alex Karp, an outspoken Democratic donor who supports Trump’s rival Kamala Harris, said it will make the new president’s Further unexpected gains are expected to be gained from budget efficiency and higher national security spending.
In 2024, when it was the highest performance of the S&P 500, its share price rose 340%. Palantir executives Thiel and Karp’s top executives Thiel and Karp have received more than $100 million in share sales since Trump’s November election victory.
“It’s a revolution. Karp announced a great quarterly earnings on Monday to announce it as a new high. “We want to see something really unexpected and win. ”
Revolving door
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Although Elon Musk became Trump’s biggest Silicon Valley booster, Thiel was the presidential champion in the technology department in his first 2016 campaign.
Investors have also played a crucial role in the rise of JD Vance, launching a new vice president’s venture capital career before becoming the largest donor to the 2022 U.S. Senate campaign.
Thiel held a celebration party at his DC home last month, which was attended by Silicon Valley leaders such as Vance and Mark Zuckerberg of Meta and Sam Altman of Openai.
After the US election in November, Trump began to use Palantier executives to take on key administration positions.
Jacob Helberg, a senior adviser to KARP, was nominated as Secretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy and Environment, which would make him the highest economic policy and trade official in the State Department.
Meanwhile, working at Palantir for a decade until 2020, Gregory Barbaccia was appointed federal chief information officer in the presidential office, overseeing the country’s $70 billion IT budget.
Palantir also convened former lawmakers and administration officials from Republican and Democratic backgrounds.
In August, it recruited former Republican Congressman Mike Gallagher, who led the Chinese House Select Committee to help determine contract opportunities. He resigned from the House of Representatives in April 2024 and banned lobbying Congress for one year under federal policy.
In 2023, Palantir hired former CIA veteran Geof Kahn, who worked on Trump’s 2016 transition team, while former foreign and national security adviser Jamie Fly served as Trump Secretary of State Florida Governor Marco Rubio (Marco Rubio).
Since 2019, it has hired former senior Defense Department and legal officials, such as Trump administration appointees Matthew Turpin and Alexander Alden, Obama-era staffer Win Wendy Anderson and former Pine Assistant Assistant Funmi Olorunnipa Badejo.
According to TTP, at least six people moved between Palantir and the Pentagon’s Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office (CDAO), which oversees the Department of Defense’s offices that adopt data, analytics and AI.
Meanwhile, venture capitalist and Palantir co-founder Joe Lonsdale played a central role in establishing and equiping the Musk administration’s efficiency ministry, a new advisory group aimed at cutting the federal budget new consulting group.
Lonsdale, the close ally of Tesla chief, also helped build the Pro-Trump America PAC and donated more than $239 million in vehicles for the Trump campaign to Musk.
Jeff Hauser, executive director of the revolving door project, said the moves allowed companies like Palantir to gain “Capital Hill credibility” and helped them “make direct and indirect contracts and grants.” Influence”.
“Palantir did this because decades have proven that revolving doors can help companies win more contracts,” Hauser added.
Strengthen lobbying
In October, Palantir hired Miller Strategies, one of Washington’s most prominent corporate lobbyists, to lobby defense policies and grants, according to federal disclosures.
Jeff Miller, the company’s head, established his preferred lobbyist to influence the Trump administration during his presidency. His other technology clients include SpaceX, Amazon and Apple.
Overall, Palantir’s lobbying spending rose to $5.8 million last year, up from $1 million in 2015, according to federal disclosures. But by comparison, Google’s $12.3 million, with traditional defense companies Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman at $12.4 million and $8.8 million, respectively.
Palantir also supported the formation of a new American Industrial Alliance’s Hall Trade Group, which was informed by former Trump administration officials to overhaul the Pentagon’s partnership with defense contractors. It is also backed by Lonsdale’s 8VC venture capital firm.
In 2023, it launched the Foundation for Defense Policy and International Affairs, which has obtained nonprofit tax-free status.
The organization said it was a “non-party organization dedicated to advancing national security” and influenced policy discussions by funding academic research and hosting conferences. It published a journal called Republic, whose first issue reads “Don’t let copyright kill American AI.”
Palantir used a similar script in the UK. Its UK operations are overseen by Louis Mosley, a former Conservative activist, while British corporate affairs head Ben Mascall was previously an advisor to the Ministry of Defense and Downing Street. Head of strategic communications at Downing Street.
Prior to winning a £300 million contract with the NHS in November 2023, Palantir recruited two senior NHS officials specializing in AI and data, a move that has raised concerns about the company’s growing ties to health services.
Palantir also hired civil servants from departments including the UK Ministry of Defense and the Home Office and established other links with UK government officials. It has introduced the UK government to the use of former senior civil servants, such as Sir John Sawers, the former head of MI6.
The company has been a client of global lawyers founded by fellow Labor Party Peter Mandelson, a UK ambassador to the United States. Lobbying spending data is not publicly available in the UK.
Palantir attended at least 13 ministerial meetings between 2022 and 2023, but also added hospitality such as drinking and dinner to senior officials such as Caroline Bellamy, Chief Data Officer of the Department of Defense, Pa Palantir has a $75 million contract.
In January 2024, Tyre personally met with then-ministered investment minister Lord Dominic Johnson to “build a relationship” according to documents released to FT by transparent law.
The documents show that Johnson plans to address concerns about Palantir’s Ministry of Defense lack of access to European markets and proposes the UK as “the world’s leading incubator for risk charities.”
According to minutes of numerous edited meetings provided to British banks, Thiel expressed pessimism about the UK economy, citing high taxes, low growth and the fact that growth is driven by real estate rather than innovation like technology.
