Palantir, PLTR, CEO says working at his software company is better than a degree from Harvard or Yale

Alex Karp, CEO of Palantir, is the latest high-profile executive to take aim at the traditional education system.

“Whether you skipped college, went to a mediocre school, or graduated from Harvard, Princeton, or Yale—once you’re at Palantir, you’re a Palantirian,” Karp said during Monday’s earnings call. “No one cares about the rest.”

The 57-year-old explained that the company is developing its own form of recognition—completely detached from class, pedigree, or academic background. “This is, by far, the best credential in technology. If you come to Palantir, your career is set,” he said.

The company’s momentum has been striking. Palantir reported a record $1 billion in revenue last quarter, marking a 48% year-over-year increase. Over the past year, shares have soared nearly 600%, and just yesterday its market cap jumped by $12 billion to roughly $430 billion.

Karp credits the success not to flashy offices or raiding Ivy League campuses for talent, but to building a team that sees no prestige in a diploma—whether it’s from an elite institution or not having one at all.

That sentiment was echoed by Shyam Sankar, Palantir’s chief technology officer, who recently became a billionaire as the company’s valuation surged. “We can attract, retain, and inspire people who genuinely want to bend the arc of history—people driven to work on the kinds of problems that actually shape outcomes,” Sankar said.

Palantir’s skepticism toward conventional education and hiring practices isn’t just rhetoric. Karp, along with cofounders Peter Thiel and Joe Lonsdale, has supported the University of Austin, a new four-year institution that emphasizes free speech and positions itself as “anti-woke.”