Stephen Cohen | |
|---|---|
| Born | September 30, 1982 California, U.S. |
| Alma mater | Stanford University (BS) |
| Occupation(s) | Entrepreneur, president |
| Known for | Co-founder and President at Palantir Technologies |
Stephen Andrew Cohen (born September 30, 1982) is an American computer scientist and entrepreneur. He is best known as a co-founder and the president of Palantir Technologies, [1] [2] a platform for analyzing integration and visualizing data used by governments and businesses. [3] [4] He is credited with creating the initial prototype of Palantir in eight weeks. [5] Since then, he has interviewed over 4,500 candidates and continues to be actively involved in Palantir. [6] Previously to Palantir, Cohen worked with Peter Thiel at Clarium Capital. [1] He also served as an adviser to BackType prior to its acquisition by Twitter in 2011. [7]
On September 30, 2020, Cohen sold nearly 4 million shares in conjunction with the company’s initial public offering, generating approximately $38 million in proceeds. [8] On February 20 and 21, 2025, Cohen sold shares totaling approximately $69.3 million. The transactions included 301,847 shares sold on February 21 at a price of $102.14 per share, amounting to $30.8 million. On the previous day, multiple sales were executed at prices ranging from $96.43 to $108.28 per share, generating proceeds of $38.4 million. In March 2025, he sold additional shares valued at over $310 million, representing around 23% of his total stake in the company, under a trading plan adopted in December 2024. [8]
Cohen was born on September 30, 1982, and is of Ashkenazi Jewish descent, a community whose families predominantly originate from Central and Eastern Europe. [9] [10] [11]
Cohen graduated from Stanford University with a B.S. in computer science in 2005. While at Stanford he focused on machine learning, artificial intelligence, and natural language processing and did research with professor Andrew Ng, director of the Stanford Artificial Intelligence Lab. [12]