Palantir Co-Founder Joe Lonsdale On Early Employee Stock Options: 'Now All My Friends Are Too Rich To Work'

Joe Lonsdale, co-founder of Palantir Technologies Inc. (NYSE:PLTR), reflected on the company's employee equity strategy, saying early stock grants generated substantial wealth for the first team members.

Equity-First Compensation Model

In an interview released by Heartland Ventures last month, Lonsdale told host and founder, Max Brickman, that during early recruitment, he showed candidates equity value tables based on different company valuations.

He explained that the company's equity-first compensation model was designed to give employees a meaningful stake in Palantir, often in exchange for lower salaries. Employees were offered multiple options with varying equity-to-salary ratios to encourage long-term ownership rather than immediate cash compensation.

“Here’s what your shares would be worth if we get to $5 billion,” Lonsdale told candidates, to which people responded, “Joe, you can’t say it’s worth $5 billion. That’s unrealistic.”

The Colorado-based software company used an equity-first pay model, giving employees a large part of their compensation as company ownership rather than a higher base salary. This approach helps the company conserve cash while directly linking employees' success to the company's long-term growth.

Early Employees Reaped Major Rewards

The prominent American entrepreneur and venture capitalist said the approach paid off for early employees, many of whom became significantly wealthy as the company grew. Lonsdale noted that Palantir, which he co-founded at age 21 and where he personally hired most of the first 200 employees, was valued at approximately $20 to $25 billion before the AI boom.

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Jokingly, he highlighted the outcomes for early employees, saying many had become wealthy enough that they no longer worked full time, instead contributing to projects like his new university. “Now all my friends are too rich to work anymore, which is annoying,” Lonsdale said.

Lonsdale, who left the company in 2009, also credited AI with driving a significant portion of Palantir's growth over the past five years.

What’s Going On With PLTR Stock?

Palantir stock surged approximately 140% in 2025, driven by commercial AI adoption and defense contracts.

This reflects strong long-term bullish sentiment. The performance indicates that the stock has been gaining traction and could continue to do so if the current momentum holds.

The company, also co-founded by Peter Thiel, who also serves as its current chairman, has a market capitalization of $423.48 billion, with a 52-week high of $207.52 and a 52-week low of $63.40.

Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings indicate that PLTR has strong Momentum in the 94th percentile. Here is how the stock fares on other parameters.

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Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.