Palantir to relocate headquarters from Silicon Valley to Colorado
Palantir Technologies CEO Alex Karp arrives at the “Tech for Good” Summit in Paris, France May 15, 2019.
Charles Platiau | Reuters
Data analytics software company Palantir Technologies is relocating its headquarters to Denver, Colorado from Palo Alto, California, CNBC confirmed Wednesday.
The company updated its website where it now lists Denver as the site of its headquarters. It also updated its social media pages to reflect the change.
The Denver Business Journal first reported news of a potential move.
Co-founded in 2004 by billionaire investor Peter Thiel, Palantir is a data analytics company that provides software to large companies and government agencies. Palantir also announced early July that it filed confidentially for a public stock offering.
It’s not immediately clear how many of Palantir’s over 2,500 global employees will be affected.
Chief Executive Officer Alex Karp has been open in the past about a potential move. In an interview with Axios on HBO in May, Karp said he was against the “increasing intolerance and monoculture of Silicon Valley” and was nearing a decision on whether or not to move. Karp said at the time Colorado was under consideration.
Thiel explained to The Wall Street Journal in 2013 why the Silicon Valley isn’t an ideal place for startup employees to work and live.
“We have to figure out ways to make housing more affordable in these places,” Thiel said. “When people start companies they are typically getting paid in equity and not a large salary. The way rent and housing costs have gone through the roof in a number of cities where people go to start companies is a tremendous problem. Zoning rules, while well-intentioned, have had the effect of making it almost impossible for people to take a pay cut and make a leap.”
Thiel, an early Facebook investor and board member there, was a supporter of Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign and spoke at the Republican National Convention. In 2018, he moved from Silicon Valley to Los Angeles. The Los Angeles Times said in 2018 Thiel’s move may have been made because of “backlash from tech industry peers, particularly within Facebook’s ranks,” for supporting Trump and that he was “surprised by what he called a ‘visceral reaction’ in socially liberal Silicon Valley to his support of the president.”
CNBC’s Josh Lipton and Lora Kolodny contributed to this report.