Palantir has confidentially filed for an IPO

Palantir, the secretive $20 billion big data company, has quietly a filed a draft of its IPO paperwork, it announced in a press release Monday.
Rumors resurfaced last month that the company, launched in 2003 by PayPal alumni including Peter Thiel, was preparing to file its S-1 with the SEC.
Palantir has struggled to live up to its valuation in recent years, as shares of the company flooded the secondary markets at a major discount.
Activists have long criticized Palantir for its controversial work with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
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Palantir, the secretive and controversial big data company cofounded by Peter Thiel, has confidentially filed a draft version of the paperwork for an initial public offering, the company announced in a press release on Monday.

The move sets Palantir up what could be the highest-profile market debuts of the year, after the coronavirus pandemic effectively froze the market for some of the most anticipated IPOs.

With its prospectus, or S-1 registration statement, now filed, Palantir could be on track to float shares to the public in September, as Business Insider and others have previously reported.

Rumors that the company would go public first circulated last year and resurfaced in June. In 2015, Palantir was valued at as much as $20 billion, but secondary shares of the company in recent years have hinted at valuations between $8 billion and $12 billion. The company recently raised more than $500 million in fresh funding, according to regulatory filings.

Palantir, which sells customized data analytics tools to corporations and the government, has also come under fire from activists who criticize its work with law enforcement, in particular US Immigrations and Customs Enforcement. Palantir's software has been used to gather, store, and search for data on undocumented immigrants, and reportedly played a role in workplace raids.

The company has also reportedly been working with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to help it track the spread of COVID-19, Forbes reported.

Palantir was launched in 2003 by a group of PayPal alumni including Peter Thiel and its current CEO, Alex Karp. Since then, it has operated largely under a veil of secrecy, sharing little information about its software or finances, and asking many of its customers to sign non-disclosure agreements.

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