Peter Thiel’s public embrace of former President Donald Trump apparently caused some friction at Palantir, the data analytics and software company he co-founded and currently chairs.
That’s according to Alex Karp, Palantir’s current CEO, who co-founded the company alongside Thiel. Karp, who supported and donated to Joe Biden in 2020, addressed Thiel’s embrace of Trump in an interview with The New York Times published Saturday.
When asked if Thiel’s support of Trump made life harder, or if it made getting government contracts easier, Karp told the outlet, “I didn’t enjoy it.”
“There’s a lot of reasons I cut Biden a check. I do not enjoy being protested every day. It was completely ludicrous and ridiculous. It was actually the opposite. Because Peter had supported Mr. Trump, it was actually harder to get things done,” he added.
Palantir did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.
After supporting Trump in 2016, Thiel became one of his major donors that election cycle and eventually joined Trump’s presidential transition team. The company’s ties to the Trump White House and some of its work with the US government fueled scrutiny and protests.
Government contracts awarded to Palantir include military work, US Customs and Border Protection, and the Department of Health and Human Services.
When the Times asked Karp if he and Thiel discussed how he felt about the situation, the CEO said, “Peter and I talk about everything.”
“It’s like, yes, I definitely informed Peter, ‘This is not making our life easier,'” he added.
Karp is supporting Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 election.
Thiel has not endorsed Trump this time around and has said he does not plan to donate to any candidates. However, the billionaire told the Times last month he was coming around to the Trump campaign after the former president announced Sen. JD Vance as his running mate.
Thiel was even believed to be partially responsible for Trump tapping Vance, a former venture capitalist who previously worked for Thiel’s investment firm, Mithril Capital.
