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Key Points
- Alex Karp’s fortune dropped $1.9 billion to $14.5 billion as Palantir shares slid about 16.6 percent this month.
- Palantir posted $1 billion in second-quarter revenue, up 48 percent year-over-year, with adjusted EBITDA rising 47 percent to $470.9 million.
- The company secured $2.27 billion in new contracts last quarter, more than double the same period in 2024.
After his fortune touched $16.4 billion earlier this month, Palantir co-founder and CEO Alex Karp has seen $1.9 billion erased from his net worth. The drop pares back some of the gains that had made 2025 one of his strongest years yet, though he still holds the title of the richest Black person in the U.S.
Black billionaire Alex Karp faces wealth dip
According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Karp’s wealth slipped by $1.9 billion, falling from $16.4 billion on Aug. 12 to $14.5 billion at the time of this report. He co-founded Palantir in 2003 with Peter Thiel, Stephen Cohen, and Joe Lonsdale, and today he remains America’s richest Black billionaire despite the setback.
The drop is tied to a decline in Palantir’s share price, which has weighed on the value of his 2.6 percent stake. His holdings, once worth $10.4 billion, are now valued at $8.74 billion. Shares have fallen about 16.6 percent after Citron Research, led by short seller Andrew Left, criticized the stock as “detached from fundamentals” and argued it should trade closer to $40, using OpenAI’s $500 billion valuation as a comparison.
Palantir quarterly revenue up 48 percent
Earlier in August, Palantir stock had climbed to nearly $190 on the back of strong second-quarter results. Revenue for the first half of 2025 jumped to $1.88 billion from $1.31 billion a year earlier.
The company, reported second-quarter revenue of $1 billion, up 48 percent year-over-year. Adjusted EBITDA rose 47 percent to $470.9 million. U.S. commercial sales nearly doubled, while government contracts also grew.
Palantir expands with major deals
Palantir, whose software helps companies and the U.S. military put artificial intelligence to practical use, also booked record contracts during the quarter. Its customer base grew 43 percent from a year earlier, with 157 deals worth at least $1 million each. That included 66 contracts above $5 million and 42 topping $10 million.
In total, deals signed in the quarter reached $2.27 billion, more than twice the amount from the same period in 2024. On the strength of those results, Palantir raised its full-year revenue forecast to as much as $4.15 billion and projected third-quarter sales of around $1.08 billion.
