Who Are the Parents of Palantir Technologies CEO's Alex Karp? You May Be Surpised

The company Palantir Technologies is powering some of Donald Trump's most controversial policies, such as immigration, and folks want to know more about the company's co-founder and CEO, billionaire Alex Karp.

According to The Washington Post, Palantir's software helps the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) track undocumented immigrants in the U.S. faster and deport them. The controversy has people wanting to know more about the billionaire CEO, including who his parents are.

Alex Karp's parents are Robert Joseph Karp and Leah Jaynes Karp. Alex is biracial — Robert is a Jewish clinical pediatrician, and Leah is a Black artist. Alex was born in New York City, but he was raised in Philadelphia with his younger brother Oliver "Ben" Karp.

The young billionaire was deeply influenced by Leah and Robert's civil rights and social justice activism during his childhood, and he attended many protests with his parents.

He told The New York Times that he was deeply influenced by his mother's family to fight discrimination. Being Black and of German descent, he noted that "some black people considered me black while some did not. ... I view me as me. And I'm very honored to be honored by all groups that will have me."

The young billionaire grew up poor but was educated at Haverford College, where he earned his Bachelor's degree, and Stanford University, where he earned his Doctor of Jurisprudence, according to Forbes. He also has a Ph.D. in neoclassical social theory from Goethe University Frankfurt, Germany. The billionaire is worth $16.7 billion, and during an interview with Axios, Alex recalled paying back a landlord who'd once helped his mother and given the family a place to live in Bryn Mawr.

"My mom was totally f--ked," he began as he got choked up. "Someone helped her. I paid him back."

"Very few people will help you," he added. "And, it's like her, by helping my mom, Mr. Snyder kind of helped me. In general, people don't help you, which is totally OK. But the ones that do are special."

Alex gave an interview to Wired back in November, and he told the outlet that although his company helps enact Trump policies, he doesn't agree with his politics.

"He’s the president of the United States, and I very much respect that," said the billionaire. "I agree with him on some things, and probably on some things I don’t."

Alex added that he's in hot water with his family over his company being affiliated with Trump.

"It’s like where me and my family disagree," he said. "And I’ll tell you where those places are. They’re on the border, they’re in Israel, and they’re in Ukraine. I get yelled at all day about those three issues."

Alex also told the Times that he has never felt like he fit in because he was different.

"I just think I’ve always viewed myself as I don’t fit in," he said. "And I can’t really try to."