Palantir CEO Alex Karp Outspends Mark Zuckerberg On Private Jet, Michael Burry Calls It 'Quite The Feat'

‘The Big Short’ famed investor Michael Burry turned his sights on Palantir Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:PLTR) CEO Alex Karp‘s travel expenses on Wednesday, posting on X (formerly Twitter) about a disclosure buried in the company’s annual 10-K filing released Tuesday.

The filing reveals that Karp uses a privately owned aircraft for business and personal travel, with the company incurring $17.2 million and $7.7 million in expenses for the Executive Aircraft in 2025 and 2024, respectively.

Burry’s reaction was pointed: “It’s quite the feat to spend $17.2mn in a year on ‘business and personal travel’, particularly when the jet’s not even a rental.”

The Numbers

Burry referenced Jefferies analyst Brent Thill‘s analysis, which ran cost-per-hour calculations based on the disclosed figure. He pointed out that, assuming the use of a mid-sized jet with an estimated operating cost of approximately $7,000 per hour, this would translate to about 2,457 flight hours, or roughly 28% of the year spent in the air.

Even in a more conservative scenario, using a high-end jet like the Gulfstream G650, with an estimated operating cost of around $15,000 per hour, the $17.2 million still corresponds to roughly 1,147 flight hours, or about 13% of the year.

Peers Spent Far Less

Burry highlighted the disparity between Karp’s travel expenses and those of other major tech CEOs, noting that the $17.2 million figure seems significantly higher than peers.

For example, Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ:META) CEO Mark Zuckerberg spent around $1.8 million, while Palo Alto Networks Inc (NASDAQ:PANW) CEO Nikesh Arora spent approximately $2.4 million on private aircraft travel.

Additionally, the $17.2 million is more than double Karp’s own spending from the previous year, which was $7.7 million in 2024.

Burry’s Broader Campaign Against PLTR

This latest post fits into Burry’s sustained campaign against Palantir. He has previously flagged what he calls the company’s moat being little more than “obstruction of data transfer,” citing a public dispute in which the NYPD alleged Palantir refused to provide data in a format compatible with competing systems.

Burry has also shared a technical “Head & Shoulders” chart pattern projecting up to 58% downside for the stock, with a target “Landing Area” of $50–$60. Karp has previously dismissed Burry’s bearishness as “BatS—t Crazy.”

PLTR Price Action: Palantir Technologies shares were up 5.03% at $139.71 at the time of publication on Wednesday, according to Benzinga Pro data.

Photo by Mamun Sheikh via Shutterstock