There's a brutal double standard in American business, according to Palantir Technologies Inc. (PLTR) CEO Alex Karp. Poor people face prison or death for mistakes, while powerful executives collect enormous bonuses after making terrible decisions and getting bailed out by taxpayers.
"No one believes the institutions are credible … and I struggle to believe they're credible too," Karp said at The New York Times DealBook Summit. His message was blunt: institutional trust is collapsing because the consequences for failure only flow downward.
Who Actually Pays for Mistakes?
Karp pointed to soldiers and people in low-income neighborhoods as examples of Americans who can't afford to be wrong. "Poor people" are "the only people who pay the price for being wrong in this culture," he said. Make a mistake in those environments and you might end up dead or in prison. Make a mistake as a corporate executive? You might get a government rescue package and a bonus.
The Palantir CEO emphasized that his company takes a different approach. "We at Palantir absorb the full risk of our failure," he said, describing what he sees as a widening gap between how ordinary people and corporate leaders experience accountability.
The Bailout Bonus Problem
Karp's critique focused on a pattern he sees playing out repeatedly: executives make "stupid decisions," their companies stumble, they seek federal help, and then those same executives collect large compensation packages. This cycle, he argues, has raised serious doubts about how major institutions operate.
"Somehow your salary should be capped to the point where you make a lot of money for the American people," Karp told summit host Andrew Ross Sorkin. His argument was straightforward: if you need the government to bail you out, you shouldn't be getting rich off that rescue. Companies that approach the White House for help after missteps should accept the full consequences of their decisions, including limits on executive pay.
He repeated his core principle: Palantir "absorbs the full risk of our failure." That philosophy, he said, is central to how the company manages internal decisions and stands in stark contrast to the institutional approach he's criticizing.
From "Stupid" to Standard Practice
Karp also discussed Palantir's long-term strategy at the summit, noting that decisions once widely viewed as "stupid" in the tech sector are now being adopted by competing firms. According to Karp, companies that dismissed Palantir's approach "went broke, are going out of business or now have to copy us." He described how views of the company's direction have shifted as earlier decisions align more closely with current industry trends.
National Security and Surveillance
Beyond executive compensation, Karp addressed questions about Palantir's controversial government work. He discussed the company's relationships with U.S. agencies and international partners, including work with the Trump administration and the Israeli government during national-security operations. He denied that Palantir builds surveillance tools for the U.S. government.
During the company's Q3 earnings call last month, Karp said Palantir was "completely anti-woke," arguing that the company had "stood up for the American warfighter." He also criticized what he described as uneven policy responses to national-security threats, including fentanyl deaths. Policymakers would act more aggressively, he suggested, if victims came from elite institutions rather than ordinary communities.
The broader message from Karp was clear: accountability shouldn't be a luxury reserved for people without power. When the consequences of failure only hit those at the bottom while executives collect rewards regardless of performance, institutional credibility crumbles. And once that trust is gone, it's nearly impossible to rebuild.