High-flier: Palantir CEO Alex Karp spent $17.2 million on private jets in 2025, filing reveals

While Palantir Technologies continues to expand its footprint in the artificial intelligence sector, a new equity research report from Jefferies has highlighted startling details buried in the company’s latest 10-K filing, the annual report that all publicly traded companies submit to the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The most eye-catching revelation concerns the travel habits of CEO Alex Karp, whose executive aircraft expenses more than doubled over the previous year, suggesting the chief executive may have spent nearly one-third of his year in the sky. In the 10-K, Palantir disclosed Karp incurred $17.2 million in executive aircraft expenses in calendar year 2025, covering both personal and business travel. This figure represents a massive surge from the $7.7 million reported in 2024.

To put this spending into perspective, Jefferies analysts crunched the numbers on flight costs. If Karp were utilizing a midsize jet with an estimated operating cost of $7,000 per hour, the $17.2 million total implies he logged roughly 2,457 flight hours. That equates to approximately 28% of the entire year, or roughly one out of every 3.5 days, spent flying.

Even under a conservative estimate assuming the use of a top-tier jet, such as a G650 costing $15,000 per hour, Karp would still have spent 13% of the year—about 1,147 hours—in the air. The report notes this spending is “elevated relative to peers,” citing Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s aircraft spending of roughly $1.8 million and Palo Alto Networks CEO Nikesh Arora’s approximately $2.4 million.

Headcount promises vs. reality

Beyond the tarmac, the 10-K filing revealed discrepancies between management’s stated goals and operational reality regarding the company’s workforce. In August 2025, Karp publicly stated a goal of reducing the company headcount to approximately 3,600 employees while simultaneously scaling revenue.

However, the filing shows the opposite occurred. Palantir’s total headcount accelerated in 2025, growing 13% year over year to more than 4,400 employees. Rather than shrinking, the company added nearly 500 employees over the year, a pace more than double the growth seen in 2024.

Insider trading plans and financials

The filing also detailed new trading plans for the company’s top insiders. Board chairman Peter Thiel adopted a Rule 10b5-1 plan allowing for the potential sale of up to 2 million shares through March 2027. Karp also adopted a plan to potentially sell up to 360,000 Class A shares through November 2026.

Despite concerns about expenses and headcount, the company reported robust growth in its home market. U.S. revenue growth accelerated to 75% year over year, now accounting for nearly three-quarters of Palantir’s total revenue. Additionally, the company’s biggest clients are spending more; the average trailing 12-month revenue from the top 20 customers rose 45% to $93.9 million.

For this story, Fortune journalists used generative AI as a research tool. An editor verified the accuracy of the information before publishing.

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com