Palantir (PLTR) CEO Alexander Karp Sells Shares

What Happened

• Alexander C. Karp, Chief Executive Officer of Palantir (PLTR), had a series of transactions on August 20, 2026 in connection with RSU vesting and share conversions. He acquired rights to 975,000 shares from incremental RSU vesting, converted Class B shares into Class A shares, and sold approximately 492,348 Class A shares in multiple open-market trades for total proceeds of about $86.1 million. The sales were automatic to cover required tax withholding and were conducted under a preexisting Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Key Details

• Transaction date: August 20, 2026; Form 4 filed August 24, 2026 (timely within two business days).
• Sales: ~492,348 shares sold at prices ranging roughly $172.19–$176.33; reported weighted-average prices for groups of trades (examples shown in footnotes) produced the listed per-trade averages.
• Total proceeds reported (sums of cash sales lines): ≈ $86.06 million.
• RSUs and conversions: Reporting person acquired rights to 975,000 RSUs (fully vested as of the date); conversions of Class B → Class A were reported (Class B converts 1-for-1 to Class A).
• Notable footnotes: sales were automatic to satisfy tax withholding, conducted under a Rule 10b5-1 plan (entered March 12, 2026), and several lines report weighted-average prices across multiple open-market executions; the filer offers to provide detailed per-trade price breakdowns on request.
• Shares owned after transaction: not disclosed on this Form 4; see Palantir’s proxy (filed April 24, 2026) for overall holdings.

Context

• These transactions are routine "sell to cover" actions tied to RSU vesting (tax withholding) rather than open-market divestitures for discretionary reasons. The filing also shows conversion/exercise-type entries at $0, which reflect vesting/conversion mechanics (RSUs → Class B → Class A) rather than cash-paid option purchases. Routine tax-withholding sales under a 10b5-1 plan are common and do not necessarily indicate a change in the insider’s long-term view.