Benzinga - by Adam Eckert, Benzinga Staff Writer.
Palantir Technologies Inc (NYSE:PLTR) CEO Alex Karp slammed short sellers this week, claiming that short sellers have cocaine habits. Some big-time short sellers were quick to respond.
“I love burning the short sellers. Almost nothing makes a human happier than taking the lines of cocaine away from these short sellers, who, like, are going short on a truly great American company,” Karp said Wednesday in an interview aired on CNBC’s “Money Movers.”
“They just love pulling down great American companies so they can pay for their coke,” Karp added. “The best thing that can happen to them is we will provide, we will lead their coke dealers to their homes after they can’t pay their bills … Do your thing, we’ll do our thing.”
Check This Out: ‘Not Just Ours’ – Palantir CEO Says Short Sellers ‘Love Pulling Down Great American Companies So They Can Pay For Their Coke’
Short Sellers Fire Back: Some prominent short sellers took to social media to respond to Karp’s fiery comments.
Kynikos Associates founder and famed short seller Jim Chanos pointed out that it’s insiders who have been selling stock.
“In the LTM short-sellers have bought(!) 60M shares, net, of $PLTR shares. Insiders have been selling,” Chanos said in an X post.
The legendary shortseller highlighted recent sales from insiders in the post and specifically pointed to co-founder Peter Thiel’s stock sale from Tuesday. According to Benzinga’s Insider data, Thiel sold 7.045 million shares at an average price of $24.79, however the sale was part of a Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.
Bronte Capital Management’s John Hempton also took to X to respond to Karp’s comments. He noted that he runs one of the “biggest short selling books in the world” and said he has never snorted cocaine.
Instead, he suggested that Karp may be projecting his own negative traits on others.
“My guess is projection — but not hanging around cocaine snorting parties, I have never seen Alex Karp snorting cocaine,” Hempton said.
Palantir shares have rallied more than 200% over a one-year period, largely driven by the company’s positioning in the AI space. Some market pundits have begun throwing the “bubble” word around as several companies have seen share prices soar on the back of AI. However, Palantir has now met or exceeded analyst expectations in five straight quarters, according to Benzinga Pro.
PLTR Price Action: Palantir shares are up about 41% year-to-date. The stock was down 2.66% at $24.36 at the time of writing, according to Benzinga Pro.
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