Palantir buys $50M worth of gold bars to counter ‘black swan event’

Data analytics firm Palantir, best known for its secretive work with the Central Intelligence Agency and other government bodies, has bought $50 million worth of gold bars in preparation for another “black swan event.”

The Colorado-based company purchased $50.7 million worth of 100-ounce gold bars sometime in August, Palantir said in a short note buried in its 93-page second-quarter earnings report last week.

“Such purchase will initially be kept in a secure third-party facility located in the northeastern United States and the Company is able to take physical possession of the gold bars stored at the facility at any time with reasonable notice,” it added.

Bloomberg also reported that Palantir will accept payment from its customers in gold.

The company previously announced that it would accept bitcoin as a form of payment, though it hasn’t said that it’s invested in any bitcoin yet, unlike some other companies including Elon Musk’s electric car firm Tesla.

Shyam Sankar, Palantir’s chief operating officer, said in an interview with Bloomberg that the shift toward gold “reflects more of a worldview.”

“You have to be prepared for a future with more black swan events,” he said, referring to major unexpected events that can have negative consequences.

Investing in gold is seen as a way to hedge against negative events in the future as well as inflation, as proponents see gold retaining its inherent value throughout any economic downturn.

The price of an ounce of gold shot past $2,000 for the first time ever last year as concerns over the COVID-19 pandemic spiked.

But while some investors have recently voiced confidence in gold as inflation spiked in recent months, the price of the precious metal is down about 7 percent since Jan. 1.

The purchase of gold bricks is just one of Palantir’s unusual investment strategies.

In its latest quarter, the company also began buying up stakes in its customers, which increasingly include privately held startups as well as companies that have recently gone public through mergers with SPACs, or special purpose acquisition companies.

Shares of Palantir, which was co-founded by billionaire Peter Thiel and CEO Alex Karp, have fared much better. The stock was up almost 5 percent in midday trading Wednesday and its up about 150 percent since its IPO in September.