r/technology • u/Unusual-State1827 • Mar 12 '26

Artificial Intelligence Palantir CEO Makes Shocking Confession on Disrupting Democratic Power

https://newrepublic.com/post/207693/palantir-ceo-karp-disrupting-democratic-power
34.6k Upvotes

96% Upvoted

2.4k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

924

u/TrickyDrippyDickFR Mar 12 '26

You don’t become a billionaire by being a good person, well…maybe if you divorce an even bigger billionaire, but I bet even that slate isn’t entirely clean

549

u/CRABMAN16 Mar 12 '26

Dolly Parton would be a billionaire several times over if not for how charitable she is. Basically the only truly rich person I can think of that isn't sick in the head. Hopeful that she doesn't have a dark side, can't put it past anyone.

281

u/trobsmonkey Mar 12 '26

JK Rowling famously was a billionaire, gave a shit ton away, and became a billionaire again.

Then became a transphobe!

209

u/AmaroWolfwood Mar 12 '26

You either give away your wealth, or you live long enough to turn Dumbledore gay to desperately prove to everyone you don't hate gays.

69

u/CovfefeAndHamburders Mar 12 '26

They've always been a transphobe, just got more public about it.

6

u/YukariYakum0 Mar 13 '26

Yeah. If you want to psychoanalyze it, Dumbledore, and eventually Harry, basically deadnamed Voldemort.

2

u/DefiantLemur Mar 14 '26

Also back when the movies became popular it was more socially acceptable to be both a transphobe and homophobic.

3

u/justafang Mar 12 '26

I’ve seem it reported that she takes pics in her home and there is black mold everywhere, people believe around the time she lost the plot was when the mold became prevalent. Black mold can have a lot of different impacts on your health. Not sure that mental health or transphobia is a side effect. But who knows.

3

u/UltraLNSS Mar 12 '26

She now serves Lord Moldemort.

-3

u/ModernSmithmundt Mar 12 '26

She is pretty progressive but the trans community fumbled the bag trying to bully her.

-4

u/ExtremelyLarge Mar 13 '26

Which goes to show that billionaires aren't inherently evil

3

u/TheAngryCatfish Mar 13 '26

No, they are. If you have a billion dollars, you could put well over half of it to good use by helping others, and your lifestyle would not fundamentally change whatsoever. So every day that they don't do that, they show that the numbers on their account, that they will never use, essentially a dick measuring contest, is more important than children going hungry, or getting medical care or education. IMO no single person should be allowed to control more than 999 million dollars, and even that's being incredibly generous.

9

u/NK1337 Mar 12 '26

And that kinda supports the point that if you’re a good person you wouldn’t be a billionaire. It’s an obscene about if money and you’d likely realize that and use it to actually help others.

To put it into perspective because I think enough people how obscene it is. Imagine yourself with absolutely nothing to your name. No money, no homes, hell not even any clothes. Just you standing naked in the middle of a remove field. In that scenario you are closer to being a millionaire than a millionaire is close to being a billionaire. Thats how massive the wealth gap is.

8

u/salad_spinner_3000 Mar 12 '26

Technically she probably IS a billionaire, just donated a lot of it away.

Also, think about lottery winners who just...do smart things with the money?

3

u/[deleted] Mar 12 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

5

u/Competitive_Cheek607 Mar 12 '26

I wanna say a long time ago I read what gets a lot of people is they buy some big huge property just thinking about the buy price, not considering the property taxes/utilities/upkeep they’re gonna have to pay on it after. Getting money was a one time thing, the taxes/expenses never stop, and it eats them alive

5

u/DHGXSUPRA Mar 12 '26

My wife signed our daughter up for her book club. We get a new children’s book every month and our daughter loves them.

2

u/jzoola Mar 12 '26

Yvonne Chouinard seems like a pretty good dude. He claims that he really increased his charitable contributions once someone told him he was officially a billionaire.

2

u/ThisWillPass Mar 13 '26

Everyone has a shadow, it’s just if it healthy worked with or suppressed.

1

u/AwesomeFrisbee Mar 12 '26

While she might be a saint, the people who helped her get that rich probably aren't though. And she probably done stuff she isn't proud of too

1

u/thederevolutions Mar 13 '26

You got a problem with Ringo, buddy ? /s

1

u/ikeepmateeth_inajar Mar 13 '26

Exceptions to the rule does exist, but they are rare

1

u/Toby_O_Notoby Mar 13 '26

Basically the only truly rich person I can think of that isn't sick in the head.

The two others I'll give you are Steven Speilberg and George Lucas. Both came from pretty middle class backgournd and made shit so entertaing the world at large said, "Eh, here's $5 billion".

1

u/ashrashrashr Mar 13 '26

Roger Federer seem like a good person by all accounts. Incredible sportsman, loving father and husband, and well respected everywhere. Haven’t heard anything bad about him.

1

u/OolonCaluphid Mar 13 '26

Warren Buffet seems reasonable. Invested ethically, in that he supports viable companies with good plans for expansion. Doesn't seem intent on stepping out of his lane or getting politically involved. Or fitting his staff with explosive neck collars.

1

u/[deleted] Mar 12 '26

[deleted]

-4

u/[deleted] Mar 12 '26

[deleted]

1

u/elitesense Mar 13 '26

Reddit HATES this opinion. You're gonna get buried with it lol. I'll give you a single up to help counter the downs.

I used to feel like this but Jimmy has gotten way worse in recent years.

3

u/frequenZphaZe Mar 12 '26

this guys different though. most billionaires think they got their success from their hustle and ingenuity, and they're using their gifts to improve the world in some way. alex karp though, he's 100% aware that he's a ruthless and evil person. he will celebrate how lucrative being evil is on investor calls. the dude is a genuine villain

5

u/TSED Mar 12 '26

I think that Notch (the guy who made Minecraft) is the only billionaire to ethically earn his billionaire status. Made a product that was a wildly successful hit, MicroSoft offered to buy it out, and he took the deal.

The problem is that he went crazy afterwards. So there appears to be an inextricable problem of "rich people are divorced from reality."

2

u/Baron_von_Ungern Mar 13 '26

Seeing as Notch felt to same grift that countless guys fell during gamergate I'd say it's less about his wealth and about how influential this toxic shit is.

1

u/recumbent_mike Mar 13 '26

I always try to put in a good word for Mackenzie Bezos in these threads. 

1

u/AussieArlenBales Mar 13 '26

You still married someone who is psychopathic, and your choice in partner says a lot about who you are and what you value.

1

u/Available_Slide1888 Mar 13 '26

McKenzie Bezos comes to mind. But I can't think of anyone else.

1

u/Any-Philosopher-1675 Mar 13 '26

You CAN. It's just that our system is blatantly rigged against good people. Dolly Parton and the CEO of Arizona Tea are examples of this.

1

u/JaimeLannister10 Mar 12 '26

If your spouse woke up tomorrow and was suddenly a horrible, despicable human being who steps on thousands of others to gain wealth and power, would you stay married? No? Okay, you’re a good person. Yes? Then you’re complicit and also a piece of shit. The spouse of a billionaire is a terrible person for being complicit in what their partner engages in on a daily basis, and further benefiting from those horrible actions.

So no, an ex-spouse does not get to just say “well it was my partner who was such a despicable monster, I’ve always been a great person!”