Palantir CEO sells $50 million of stock for tax reasons
The tax man is getting a taste of Palantir CEO Alex Karp’s massive executive compensation, which has racked up in recent years on the surge in the stock.
SEC filings Thursday showed Karp sold nearly 400,000 shares of vesting stock worth more than $50 million on May 20 and 21.
The filing said that “all sales were automatic sales of shares to cover required tax withholding obligations in connection with the vesting event on May 20, 2025.” On that day, 975,000 RSUs that Karp was paid in previous years were vested.
Karp was a massive seller of Palantir shares last year as the stock surged, a fact we have focused on. Such open-market sales by insiders are traditionally seen as somewhat less “informative” than buying by insiders, which has a more well-established link with upside moves in shares.
Since these are tax-related sales that happened earlier this week, they’re typically not considered to tell investors anything about how insiders are thinking about the stock price.
The filing said that “all sales were automatic sales of shares to cover required tax withholding obligations in connection with the vesting event on May 20, 2025.” On that day, 975,000 RSUs that Karp was paid in previous years were vested.
Karp was a massive seller of Palantir shares last year as the stock surged, a fact we have focused on. Such open-market sales by insiders are traditionally seen as somewhat less “informative” than buying by insiders, which has a more well-established link with upside moves in shares.
Since these are tax-related sales that happened earlier this week, they’re typically not considered to tell investors anything about how insiders are thinking about the stock price.