Palantir Technologies Inc. PLTR CEO Alex Karp spoke about the American tech industry's uncanny ability to include any personality during the Capitol Hill forum on Wednesday.
What Happened: A portion of Karp's statements while in conversation with forum organizer Jacob Helberg, his senior adviser, were shared on X, formerly Twitter.
In one of the videos, Karp can be heard talking about the U.S. tech industry being "maximally tolerant" of any personality, as long as the individual is delivering results. "I'm like a hyper inexplicably dyslexic outsider, nobody in tech cares."
"I defy you to find someone in tech who would not hire me… at this point," his pause before adding "at this point," received laughs from the audience, after which Karp added, "In the beginning without Peter, would not have been hired." He was referring to Peter Thiel, a prominent venture capitalist and one of the co-founders of Palantir.
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Karp spoke about his dyslexia last year in conversation with Joe Landsdale too. At the time, he spoke about dyslexia's role in his journey as an entrepreneur, stating that it initially hindered him in certain areas but also allowed him to excel in others.
"I was very good at certain things and I would say still am that other people are not as good at. I legitimately saw the world differently, my brain is structured differently than other people," he said then.
Why It's Important: During the forum, Karp also made some attendees uncomfortable when he joked about drone-striking business rivals and suggested anti-Israel protesters be sent to North Korea.
However, despite his controversial statements, Karp’s leadership has received praise from the likes of CNBC’s Mad Money host Jim Cramer, who admitted that the Palantir CEO's “insanity is growing on me.”
Palantir’s shares surged following the fourth-quarter earnings report in February, where it reported a 20% year-over-year increase in revenue. The company will report its first-quarter earnings on May 6.
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Photo by WEF on Flickr
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