Special report: Inside the founder factory known as Palantir, America’s most polarizing company | from FAST COMPANY

[Source images: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images; Adobe Stock]

Thursday, January 22, 2026 Chances are, you have an opinion about Palantir. Whether you’re a believer in the transformative power of its software for enterprises and governments, a critic of its unapologetic work as a defense contractor, interested in PLTR (one of the best-performing stocks of the 2020s), or you want to understand the impact Palantir is having on a new generation of startups, there’s something you need to know about why Palantir has been as successful as it is: It’s an unparalleled talent magnet.  In this special report, Fast Company compiled a list of 314 former Palantir employees who went on to found companies—the largest public dataset of its kind.  If your company envies Palantir’s success—financial, cultural, or otherwise—the story of its employees-turned-founders reveals:  how to hire the Palantir way how to build a dynamic workplace culture that delivers measurable results why traditional corporate structures can be impediments the ultimate secret behind the company’s success If you admire Palantir’s mission, this story offers:  our exclusive list of 314 former employees-turned-company builders how these founders are advancing and adapting what they learned at Palantir for a new generation of businesses If you care about Palantir as an investment, this story will give you:  a new way of looking at PLTR and what to look for when considering its future prospects the comprehensive list of Palantir alumni-led companies that offer ideas for both private and public-market investments If you’re not a Palantir fan (to understate how many of its critics feel), this story explains:  the real sources of the company’s strength exactly how and where the company’s influence is spreading

SPECIAL REPORT Inside the founder factory known as Palantir, America’s most polarizing company

[Source images: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images; Adobe Stock] “With any person, company, or concept, the general public really only has space in their head for one characteristic of it,” says Palantir alum Marc Frankel, cofounder, board member, and former CEO of Manifest, which creates software and AI “bill of materials”—think ingredient labels for critical software. “Biden: old. AI: scary. Palantir: secretive.”  Read the Full Article →