Palantir buys $51 million of gold to protect against a 'black swan event'

• Palantir purchased $50.7 million worth of gold bars, according to its quarterly financial-results filing. Barron's was first to report.
• "You have to be prepared for a future with more black swan events," the company's COO told Bloomberg.
• Palantir's gold bars, purchased in August 2021, will be kept in a facility in the northeastern US.

Data-analytics firm Palantir Technologies purchased $50.7 million worth of 100-ounce gold bars, according to the company's quarterly financial-results filing from August 12. That came in addition to other investments in startups and SPACs.

Barron's was first to report.

The Denver-based firm is also accepting gold as a form of payment. COO Shyam Sankar told Bloomberg that accepting less traditional currencies "reflects more of a worldview."

"You have to be prepared for a future with more black swan events," Sankar added.

Palantir's gold bars, which were purchased in August 2021, will be kept in a secure third-party facility in the northeastern US, according to the filing.

"The company is able to take physical possession of the gold bars stored at the facility at any time with reasonable notice," the filing said.

The company in May has said it will accept bitcoin as a mode of payment. A spokeswoman for Palantir confirmed with Bloomberg that no one has paid in bitcoin nor gold just yet.

Both asset classes have been touted as hedges against inflation, though bitcoin's effectiveness has been in question as of late.

Palantir, cofounded by the billionaire Peter Thiel, has built its reputation as a secret purveyor of government spy technologies by supplying tools to law enforcement and military clients around the globe, Insider previously reported in August 2020.

The company on August 12 reported second-quarter earnings that beat analyst estimates, closing 62 deals worth $1 million or more in the quarter. Of those, 21 were worth more than $10 million and 30 were more than $5 million.