Thiel's holding of 100 million Palantir shares makes up about half his US$19.1 billion fortune, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, which deducts the pledged stock from his net worth calculation. He also holds positions in venture fund Founders Fund and previously served on the board of Meta Platforms Inc before resigning in 2022. Thiel recently joined the board of enriched uranium startup General Matter.
Spokespeople for Palantir and Thiel didn't respond to requests for comment.
Pledging stock is a common practice for many wealthy executives who often leverage their stakes in companies for liquidity. Elon Musk has pledged more than half his Tesla Inc. shares, though he's limited to borrowing a maximum of US$3.5 billion, according to the company's 2024 proxy, while GameStop Corp Chief Executive Officer Ryan Cohen disclosed this month that he'd pledged more than half his stake to Charles Schwab Corp to guarantee a loan.
In Thiel's case, it's the first time Palantir's proxy has mentioned the co-founder pledging shares for debt. The company's insider-trading policy bans named executive officers from using stock as collateral, with exceptions for some directors and its CEO. The only other board member listed in the April 25 filing as pledging stock is Alexander Moore, who for several years has pledged 1 million of his 1.35 million shares.
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Thiel, 57, was also an active seller of Palantir stock in 2024, unloading about a third of his equity in the company. The sales garnered him more than US$1.5 billion pre-tax, but would've been worth triple that amount if he'd held on to shares until after November's presidential election when the stock reached new highs.
Technology stocks have generally slumped since then, though Palantir has remained one of the best performers, having gained almost 60% since Donald Trump's inauguration, compared with the roughly 8% decline of the benchmark S&P 500 Index.
Other Palantir insiders have continued to sell this year, including President Stephen Cohen, who unloaded more than $337 million of shares in the first quarter. That makes him one of the top corporate insider sellers, along with CEOs such as Meta's Mark Zuckerberg and Oracle Corp's Safra Catz.
