Top-performing S&P 500 tech stock Palantir: Shyam Sankar’s story is the kind that Silicon Valley was built on, a blend of grit, ambition, and unconventional thinking. He was born in Mumbai, India, and raised in Orlando, Florida, Sankar is now the Chief Technology Officer of Palantir Technologies, one of the most influential artificial intelligence companies in the world, as per a report.
Even though Sankar faced ups and downs early in his life, he pursued academics rigorously, earning an undergraduate degree in electrical and computer engineering from Cornell University and a master’s in management science and engineering from Stanford, as per the report.
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Just in the beginning of his career, he turned down a consulting job to join a startup on his father’s advice before joining Palantir as employee number 13 in the mid-2000s, as reported by the Hindustan Times.
The firm he joined was founded in 2003 by Peter Thiel, Alex Karp, Stephen Cohen, and Joe Lonsdale, and it was started as a stealthy defence-focused software startup, according to the report.
Sankar started Palantir’s "forward deployed engineer" model, which included sending engineers to embed with clients on-site to solve complex problems in real-time, as reported by the Hindustan Times. This strategy of a customer-centric approach became a cornerstone of Palantir's government and commercial business and helped differentiate it from other Silicon Valley software companies, according to the report.
Since then, Sankar's role expanded, which led to his appointment as Chief Technology Officer and Executive Vice President in January 2023, as per the report by the Hindustan Times.
His success has coincided with a period of explosive growth for Palantir, as the firm, once considered a dark horse among defence contractors, has benefited a lot from the global AI arms race, according to the report.
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He was also recently inducted into the US Army Reserve’s Executive Innovation Corps, which is a unit designed to integrate private-sector expertise into national defence initiatives, with the aim to make the military “leaner, smarter, and more lethal,” as reported by the Hindustan Times.
Shyam Sankar is the Chief Technology Officer at Palantir Technologies and a self-made billionaire known for shaping the company’s innovative, real-time problem-solving approach, as per the Hindustan Times report.
How has Palantir performed recently?
In 2025, Palantir’s stock rose more than 500%, which has made it the best-performing S&P 500 stock that year, as per the Hindustan Times report.
Palantir’s Stock Surge Puts Shyam Sankar on the Billionaire List
As reported by the Hindustan Times, Palantir’s stock reached an all-time high of $158.80 on July 25, which pushed Sankar’s net worth to $1.3 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Palantir's value has increased more than 500% in the past year, which has made it the top-performing stock on the S&P 500, as per the report.The Inspiring Immigrant Story Behind Shyam Sankar’s Success in Silicon Valley
Sankar’s success story is the typical American immigrant success story, according to The Hindustan Times report. His father, who was born in a mud hut in Tamil Nadu, India, and was the first in the family to attend college, after a brief stint in Nigeria, the Sankars shifted to the US, where they ran souvenir and dry-cleaning businesses, the latter eventually went bankrupt, as reported by the Hindustan Times.Even though Sankar faced ups and downs early in his life, he pursued academics rigorously, earning an undergraduate degree in electrical and computer engineering from Cornell University and a master’s in management science and engineering from Stanford, as per the report.
ALSO READ: Xi Jinping hits Trump where it hurts - US struggles to build weapons as China blocks rare earth exports
Just in the beginning of his career, he turned down a consulting job to join a startup on his father’s advice before joining Palantir as employee number 13 in the mid-2000s, as reported by the Hindustan Times.
The firm he joined was founded in 2003 by Peter Thiel, Alex Karp, Stephen Cohen, and Joe Lonsdale, and it was started as a stealthy defence-focused software startup, according to the report.
Sankar started Palantir’s "forward deployed engineer" model, which included sending engineers to embed with clients on-site to solve complex problems in real-time, as reported by the Hindustan Times. This strategy of a customer-centric approach became a cornerstone of Palantir's government and commercial business and helped differentiate it from other Silicon Valley software companies, according to the report.
Since then, Sankar's role expanded, which led to his appointment as Chief Technology Officer and Executive Vice President in January 2023, as per the report by the Hindustan Times.
His success has coincided with a period of explosive growth for Palantir, as the firm, once considered a dark horse among defence contractors, has benefited a lot from the global AI arms race, according to the report.
ALSO READ: California, world’s 4th largest economy, stumbles as gas prices could spike to $8, refineries shut—what's gone wrong?
Palantir’s AI-Driven Revenue Soars 48% — What It Means for the Future of Tech and Defense
Palantir reported a 48% jump in revenue to more than $1 billion due to the “astonishing impact” of artificial intelligence in the second quarter this year, as per the Hindustan Times. Sales in the US rose 68% and revenue from US commercial contracts almost doubled, according to the report.Shyam Sankar Joins US Army Reserve Innovation Corps to Modernize Defense Strategy
Sankar has also become more vocal, promoting a renaissance in US defence innovation, as in 2024, he authored a widely discussed treatise arguing for the breakup of dominant military contractors to allow more agile and technologically advanced companies to thrive, as per the Hindustan Times report.He was also recently inducted into the US Army Reserve’s Executive Innovation Corps, which is a unit designed to integrate private-sector expertise into national defence initiatives, with the aim to make the military “leaner, smarter, and more lethal,” as reported by the Hindustan Times.
FAQs
Who is Shyam Sankar?Shyam Sankar is the Chief Technology Officer at Palantir Technologies and a self-made billionaire known for shaping the company’s innovative, real-time problem-solving approach, as per the Hindustan Times report.
How has Palantir performed recently?
In 2025, Palantir’s stock rose more than 500%, which has made it the best-performing S&P 500 stock that year, as per the Hindustan Times report.
