---
title: "Palantir's Karp says a wealth tax 'is going to need surveillance' as the stock sits at 219 times earnings"
description: "Recorded on November 10 for Walter Isaacson's podcast and carried to more than 14,000 Reddit points, the interview landed in a week that took 17.55 percent off Palantir. At 219 times earnings, holders own the founder's story as much as his contract book."
publisher: "The Inference"
section: "Platforms"
published: 2026-11-15T17:30:34.703Z
modified: 2026-11-15T17:30:34.703Z
canonical: https://theinference.org/article/palantir-s-karp-says-a-wealth-tax-is-going-to-need-surveillance-as-the-stock-sits-at-219-times-earnings
language: en
keywords: "Palantir, Alex Karp, Valuation, AI Software, NHS"
---

# Palantir's Karp says a wealth tax 'is going to need surveillance' as the stock sits at 219 times earnings

> Recorded on November 10 for Walter Isaacson's podcast and carried to more than 14,000 Reddit points, the interview landed in a week that took 17.55 percent off Palantir. At 219 times earnings, holders own the founder's story as much as his contract book.

## In ten days, three political positions

On November 10, on The Builders, the podcast of [Walter Isaacson](https://theinference.org/markets/people/walter-isaacson), the biographer of Steve Jobs and [Elon Musk](https://theinference.org/markets/people/elon-musk), [Palantir](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/palantir) chief executive [Alex Karp](https://theinference.org/markets/people/alex-karp) argued that "to enforce a wealth tax, you're going to need surveillance," because "AI could impute every single thing you own" [1]. [Reddit](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/reddit) carried the clip past 14,000 points across three threads on November 13 and 14 [2][3][4]. It reached holders already paying 219 times earnings [5].

## Pay more, but not through a surveillance state

Karp, worth an estimated $18 billion [7], allowed that people like him should pay more, so long as it "doesn't destroy American tech" or "expand the surveillance state" [1]. The same session produced his case that Silicon Valley "would not even exist" without US military support, and that America needs battlefield AI, barred from domestic use by legislation [6]. A day later, after a Democratic midterm sweep, he told Politico "I've been a Democrat my whole life," calling Palantir's products "essentially progressive" [7], a pivot [covered here on Friday](https://theinference.org/article/two-years-after-1-million-to-trump-s-super-pac-palantir-s-karp-says-he-s-a-democrat).

## A 17.55 percent week at 219 times earnings

PLTR, Palantir's Nasdaq ticker, traded at $161.94 on November 14, down 17.55 percent for the week, at 219 times earnings and 170 times free cash flow, against a divided analyst corps and a $217.97 consensus target [5]. The quarter was not the trigger: shares rose after [the November 2 report](https://siliconangle.com/2026/11/02/palantir-beats-q3-forecasts-as-us-commercial-revenue-overtakes-government-for-first-time/) [8]. The slide came after the interviews.

*Chart: **Free cash flow has more than doubled in a year to $1.20 billion a quarter** Columns showing quarterly free cash flow and stock-based compensation for Palantir over twelve quarters, free cash flow rising from $0.30 billion in Q4 2023 to $1.20 billion in Q3 2026*

*Quarterly free cash flow and stock-based compensation in US$ billions, from Palantir's SEC filings, with free cash flow as the company reports it. The stock trades at 170 times free cash flow against 219 times earnings. [12]*

## Revenue doubled; contract value grew 6 percent

Third-quarter revenue reached $2.313 billion, up 96 percent, and US commercial sales of $984 million, up 148 percent, passed US government sales of $953 million for the first time [8]. Karp told analysts "we really cannot satiate demand" [5]; full-year guidance rose to $8.530–8.534 billion [8].

*Chart: **Palantir's quarterly revenue has nearly doubled in a year to $2.31 billion** Palantir quarterly revenue across twelve quarters, rising from $0.61 billion in Q4 2023 to $2.31 billion in Q3 2026*

*Quarterly revenue in US$ billions from Palantir's SEC filings; Q3 2026 as reported on November 2, 2026. The year-on-year gain has widened in each of the last five quarters. [8][11]*

Beneath it, total contract value grew 6 percent, to $2.918 billion, after growing 151 percent a year earlier [8], while stock compensation climbed to $318.9 million and receivables reached $1.88 billion [5]. A 96 percent revenue quarter resting on a 6 percent contract-value print suggests growth leaning on renewals and expansion more than new customers, though Palantir closed 212 deals worth at least $1 million in the quarter [8].

*Chart: **Revenue growth accelerated to 96% while contract value growth fell from 151% to 6%** Grouped columns comparing year-over-year growth in Q3 2025 and Q3 2026: revenue growth rose from 62.8 percent to 95.9 percent while total contract value growth fell from 151 percent to 6 percent*

*Year-over-year growth in percent, from Palantir's reported Q3 2025 and Q3 2026 figures. Total contract value growth is as the company reported it in each quarter. [8][12]*

## London cannot leave, and February decides

The renewal machine shows in Britain. Ministers are reported set to extend the £330 million NHS Federated Data Platform by two years because replacing it within four months is "not practical" [9], even as two House of Commons select committees, parliament's investigative panels, [urged the NHS to trigger its break clause](https://www.thenerve.news/p/palantir-nhs-fdp-data-platform-exit-contract-break-clause-trust-thiel-cost), the February 2027 window to exit the contract early [9]. The platform's true cost has reached £1.1 billion, and forecast benefits were cut to £808 million from £2.5 billion [9].

![Alex Karp shakes hands with then UK deputy prime minister Oliver Dowden at the AI Safety Summit in Bletchley](https://storage.googleapis.com/theinference-public/img/32e553dd115109dd.jpg)

*Alex Karp, left, with then deputy prime minister Oliver Dowden at the UK's AI Safety Summit in Bletchley in November 2023. Britain is where Palantir's renewal machine is most visible: the NHS data platform runs to a February 2027 break clause. (UK Government)*

## An exhibit in the founder religion

[Business Insider's Sunday feature](https://www.businessinsider.com/jensen-huang-elizabeth-holmes-founder-cult-2026-11), led by [Jensen Huang](https://theinference.org/markets/people/jensen-huang)'s resignation and Elizabeth Holmes, made Palantir an exhibit in founder worship, which it calls "the most consequential religion in America," quoting the koan sewn into the company chore coat and Karp's shareholder letter that proclaiming "the equality of all cultures" was a mistake [10]. The February 2027 break clause [9] and the next contract-value print [8] will show whether 219 times earnings [5] was buying growth or the storyteller.

## Takeaway

Karp's wealth tax remarks and his Democratic pivot landed in a week that took 17.55 percent off a stock already at 219 times earnings, and the quarter underneath it grew revenue 96 percent while the contract book grew 6.

## Sources

1. [Futurism, "Palantir CEO, With a Straight Face, Warns That Wealth Tax Will Cause Mass Surveillance," 14 November 2026](https://futurism.com/future-society/palantir-ceo-warns-mass-surveillance)
2. [Reddit r/antiai discussion thread (8,011 points), collected 15 November 2026](https://old.reddit.com/r/antiai/comments/1xvnehc/palantir_ceo_with_a_straight_face_warns_that/)
3. [Reddit r/NowInTech discussion thread (4,361 points), collected 15 November 2026](https://old.reddit.com/r/NowInTech/comments/1xvgqbc/palantir_ceo_with_a_straight_face_warns_that/)
4. [Reddit r/anticapitalism discussion thread (1,846 points), collected 15 November 2026](https://old.reddit.com/r/anticapitalism/comments/1xvnlns/palantir_ceo_with_a_straight_face_warns_that/)
5. [Foreign Policy Journal, "Palantir's (NASDAQ: PLTR) P/E Of 219 And Nvidia's (NASDAQ: NVDA) Supply Crunch Define A High-Stakes Race To 2030," 14 November 2026](https://www.foreignpolicyjournal.com/2026/11/14/palantirs-nasdaq-pltr-p-e-of-219-and-nvidias-nasdaq-nvda-supply-crunch-define-a-high-stakes-race-to-2030/)
6. [Benzinga via Yahoo Finance, "Palantir CEO Alex Karp Says Silicon Valley 'Would Not Even Exist' Without US Military Support," 14 November 2026](https://finance.yahoo.com/technology/ai/articles/palantir-ceo-alex-karp-says-185402032.html)
7. [New York Post, "Tech titan who backed Trump brutally skewered after elections U-turn," 11 November 2026](https://nypost.com/2026/11/11/tech/palantir-ceo-alex-karp-makes-u-turn-on-donald-trump/)
8. [SiliconANGLE, "Palantir beats Q3 forecasts as US commercial revenue overtakes government for first time," 2 November 2026](https://siliconangle.com/2026/11/02/palantir-beats-q3-forecasts-as-us-commercial-revenue-overtakes-government-for-first-time/)
9. [The Nerve, "Nine reasons why the NHS should ditch Palantir," 15 November 2026](https://www.thenerve.news/p/palantir-nhs-fdp-data-platform-exit-contract-break-clause-trust-thiel-cost)
10. [Business Insider, "Jensen Huang, Elizabeth Holmes, and America's most powerful religion," 15 November 2026](https://www.businessinsider.com/jensen-huang-elizabeth-holmes-founder-cult-2026-11)
11. [Palantir quarterly figures from its SEC filings, retrieved 15 November 2026](https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?action=getcompany&CIK=0001321655)
12. [Palantir, quarterly figures from its SEC filings, retrieved 15 November 2026](https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?action=getcompany&CIK=0001321655)


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Palantir's Karp says a wealth tax 'is going to need surveillance' as the stock sits at 219 times earnings — The Inference. Canonical: https://theinference.org/article/palantir-s-karp-says-a-wealth-tax-is-going-to-need-surveillance-as-the-stock-sits-at-219-times-earnings