(Bloomberg) — Palantir Technologies Inc. said it’s preparing for another “black swan event” by stockpiling gold bars and inviting customers to pay for its data analysis software in gold.
The company spent $50.7 million this month on gold, part of an unusual investment strategy that also includes startups, blank-check companies and possibly Bitcoin. Palantir had previously said it would accept Bitcoin as a form of payment before adding precious metals more recently.
A spokeswoman for Palantir said no one has yet paid in either Bitcoin or gold. Accepting nontraditional currencies “reflects more of a worldview,” Shyam Sankar, the chief operating officer, said in an interview. “You have to be prepared for a future with more black swan events.”
The gold purchase was buried in a securities filing last week for its quarterly financial results and reported earlier this week by Barron’s. The acceptance of gold as a form of payment hasn’t been previously reported.
Palantir’s 100-ounce gold bars will be kept in a secure location in the northeastern U.S., according to the filing. “The company is able to take physical possession of the gold bars stored at the facility at any time with reasonable notice,” Palantir wrote.
Palantir, co-founded by the technology billionaire Peter Thiel and Chief Executive Officer Alex Karp, makes software used by governments and businesses. It fashions itself as a company of free thinkers. Palantir relocated to Denver last year and mocked its peers in Silicon Valley on the way out. Governments have strongly embraced Palantir software to help them make sense of the coronavirus pandemic, the current so-called black swan, a random and unpredictable event.
The company has some $2.3 billion in cash and is exploring creative uses for that money. Palantir said in an earlier financial report in May that it was considering investing in Bitcoin.
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