Alex Karp, CEO of Palantir, backs tough border controls to protect Americans against fentanyl crisis. (Courtesy: Palantir: Q3 2025 Earnings Webcast)
Palantir CEO Alex Karp has spoken out against Ivy League graduates and their support for New York City’s newly elected Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
Appearing on “The Axios Show”, Karp questioned the worth of elite education compared to practical, hands-on skills valued in other parts of the nation.
NYC MAYORAL CANDIDATE ZOHRAN MAMDANI DEFENDS PAST TWEETS, SAYS CUOMO ATTACKING ‘MYTHICAL VERSION’ OF HIM
“I think the average Ivy League grad voting for this mayor is highly annoyed that their education is not that valuable,” Karp said.
“And the person down the street who knows how to drill for oil and gas, who’s moved to Texas, has a more valuable profession. And I think that annoys the f— out of these people,” he added.
NYC MAYORAL CANDIDATE ZOHRAN MAMDANI DEFENDS PAST TWEETS, SAYS CUOMO ATTACKING ‘MYTHICAL VERSION’ OF HIM
Co-Founder and CEO for Palantir Technologies Alex Karp speaks onstage during Jacob Helberg at the Hill & Valley Forum 2025 on April 30, 2025, in Washington, DC. (Jemal Countess/Getty Images for Jacob Helberg / Getty Images)
Karp’s comments came shortly after Mamdani, a self-identified democratic socialist who ran as a Democrat and former state assembly member from Queens, was sworn in as New York’s first socialist mayor in nearly a century.
Mamdani’s election victory was driven by a strong grassroots movement of students.
MEET MAMDANI’S RADICAL ADVISORY CIRCLE THAT INCLUDES COMMUNIST ACTIVIST, ANTI-ISRAEL ADVOCATES
New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani holds a press conference at the Unisphere in the Queens borough of New York City, on Nov. 5, 2025. (Kylie Cooper/Reuters / Reuters)
Since co-founding Palantir in 2003, Karp has become one of Silicon Valley’s most outspoken and philosophically driven executives.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
Under his leadership, the data analytics company has developed extensive partnerships with U.S. government and defense agencies while maintaining a distinct public voice on issues of governance and technology ethics.