Palantir Technologies, perhaps the most famous big data company in the world for providing information to the CIA, FBI and the US Army, has revealed that it is investing in the face of a possible black swan.
The move would go unnoticed if it weren’t for the fact that Palantir develops programs for the secret services of various countries, including the US, and legend has it that its software helped locate and hunt down Bin Laden.
The company bought $50.7 million this month in gold bullion, part of an unusual investment strategy that also includes startups, blank check companies and Bitcoin. Palantir had previously said that it would accept Bitcoin as payment. And now it accepts gold, too, Bloomberg reports.
A Palantir spokeswoman said no one has yet paid in either bitcoin or gold. Accepting non-traditional currencies “reflects more of a world view,” Shyam Sankar, COO, explained in an interview. “You have to be prepared for a future with more black swan events.”
The gold purchase was buried in a securities filing last week for its quarterly financial results and was reported earlier this week by Barron’s.
Palantir’s founding goal is to “reduce terrorism while preserving civil liberties.” The company was born as a spin off of PayPal, while several founders are working on developing a program to detect online fraud.
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