Meet the Team Behind Palantir, the Secretive Company Going Public Via a Direct Listing

It has been a busy week in the tech industry as a flurry of companies have filed to go public. Arguably, the most interesting of these companies is Palantir, a secretive tech firm that offers data analytics and consulting services to businesses, militaries, police organizations, and intelligence agencies around the world.

Palantir had confidentially submitted its filing in July 2020 and plans to go public through a direct listing. The company can count Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse, and Goldman Sachs among its financial advisers for the listing.

Palantir was founded in 2003 by a group including PayPal Co-Founder Peter Thiel and offers two products; one aimed at businesses and another targeted towards governments. The company has touted that its analytics technology is ideal for tracking terrorists, which makes sense as it is backed by In-Q-Tel, the investment arm of the Central Intelligence Agency.

Palantir has raised more than $3 billion in funding since its inception and is valued by private market investors at $20 billion, despite the fact that it has never turned a profit.

The company recently made the decision to relocate its headquarters to Denver, Colorado after CEO and Co-Founder Alex Karp decided the culture in Silicon Valley didn’t align with the company’s values. The move is also expected to help the company cut expenses.

As Palantir begins the process to go public, here are the team members the company will rely on to ensure it is listed without a hitch.

One of the newest additions to Palantir’s team is Rodney Nelson, the company’s Head of Investor Relations. Nelson joined the company in July 2020 and will be responsible for defining the company’s desired investor base and providing relevant and timely information and insights that can help guide investors.

Matt Long will also play a key role in the company’s direct listing as he is the company's legal head. In his position as General Counsel, he will ensure that all the paperwork is in oreder and all legal responsibilities are fulfilled as the company, which isn’t used to transparency, gears up to go public.

As the company moves toward transparency, Bonnie McLindon will be a central figure as the company’s head of communications. McLindon will be responsible for interfacing with the outside world and developing the company’s messaging. This will be increasingly important as Palantir shares more of its internal information with not only investors, but also with journalists and media outlets.

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