Michael Burry Sounds Alarm On Palantir, Flags CEO Alex Karp's 'Elevated' $17.2 Million Private Jet Tab

2 weeks ago 12

Rishabh Mishra

Sun, February 22, 2026 astatine 10:00 AM CST 3 min read

The “Big Short” capitalist Michael Burry has targeted Palantir Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:PLTR) again aft the company's latest yearly filing revealed CEO Alex Karp's backstage pitchy expenses surged to implicit $17 million, sparking a statement implicit firm governance and enforcement perks.

According to Palantir's Form 10-K, the institution reimbursed CEO Karp $17.2 cardinal for the usage of his “Executive Aircraft” successful 2025. This fig represents a monolithic 123% summation from the $7.7 cardinal reported for 2024.

Burry, posting connected X, noted the irony of the arrangement, stating, "It's rather the feat to walk $17.2mn successful a year… peculiarly erstwhile the jet's not adjacent a rental."

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The craft is beneficially owned by Karp himself, meaning the institution is fundamentally paying its CEO for the usage of his ain plus for some concern and idiosyncratic travel.

From Palantir's Form 10k released connected Tuesday:

Alexander Karp, the Company's Chief Executive Officer, flies connected non-commercial craft beneficially owned by him (the "Executive Aircraft") for concern and idiosyncratic travel. During the years ended December 31, 2025 and 2024, the…

Financial analysts person struggled to reconcile the $17.2 cardinal “tab” with modular aviation costs. Jefferies' analyst Brent Thill provided a breakdown of what that level of spending really implies for a CEO's schedule:

Mid-sized Jet ($7K/hr): Implies 2,457 formation hours, oregon astir 28% of the full twelvemonth spent successful the air.
High-end G650 ($15K/hr): Implies 1,147 formation hours, oregon 13% of the year.

Thill noted that these figures are “elevated comparative to peers,” pointing retired that Meta Platforms Inc.'s (NASDAQ:META) Mark Zuckerberg and Palo Alto Networks Inc.‘s (NASDAQ:PANW) Nikesh Arora spent astir $1.8 cardinal and $2.4 million, respectively, connected akin travel.

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The disclosure has reignited scrutiny regarding Palantir’s interior controls. While the institution utilizes its ain “Gotham” and “Foundry” bundle to assistance organizations find efficiencies, critics reason the CEO’s question fund suggests a deficiency of the aforesaid subject astatine home.

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