from Hacker News

Palantir CEO Alex Karp gives $180k to ousted hermit River Dave

by marcofatica on 8/19/21, 10:00 PM with 80 comments

  • by thrower123 on 8/19/21, 11:45 PM

    If the town tax assessor hadn't caused a stink over a few hundred dollars in taxes for this shack, all of this fuss could have been avoided.

    The landowner wouldn't have even realized this geezer was squatting, and he would have continued in peace and tranquility for the few years he has remaining.

    Instead it's been a whole hoohah that's wasted a lot of time and money and energy.

  • by function_seven on 8/19/21, 11:42 PM

    Okay, what’s the story behind this story?

    How did Karp know of River Dave? What was the property dispute that resulted in the fire? Why does Lidstone have his own Facebook group of supporters?

    Can’t put my finger on it, this story just seems strange.

  • by devin on 8/19/21, 11:55 PM

    I'm excited for the Paul Graham post about "roses growing from concrete" or some equally ridiculous and juvenile claim that uses billionaires who make money off of creating dubious technology BUT WHO ALSO buy more girl scout cookies than their neighbors as some kind of proof of the value of their continued existence and deserved exaltation.

  • by DoreenMichele on 8/19/21, 11:42 PM

    I actually read about River Dave recently. I don't think I posted the story. I don't recall why. I did think about posting it.

    Anyway, if you don't care about the CEO angle, River Dave's story is interesting. Or was to me, fwiw.

  • by bifrost on 8/20/21, 12:13 AM

    Here's an unpaywalled article about what happened: https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/river-dave-grateful-fire...

    Still unclear to me why Karp gave him the money but seems like its helpful to "River Dave".

  • by pelorat on 8/20/21, 12:03 AM

    Good for River Dale but Alex Karp should be in prison and Palantir should be shut down. An enemy of the free world. Hopefully we'll see Palantir employees face prosecution if they ever dare to leave the USA.

  • by slater on 8/20/21, 12:21 AM

    Five imaginary bucks say Karp lists that as charitable giving on his tax returns

  • by voz_ on 8/20/21, 12:26 AM

    I'd really rather he pay another 180k in tax, and then we apply it better as a society.

  • by make3 on 8/19/21, 11:51 PM

    I don't like stories like this, that are supposed to make us feel good towards the ultra rich. This is a raindrop in an ocean of people in need. Tax the rich and it wouldn't be necessary.

  • by devin on 8/19/21, 11:40 PM

    Wow, the ultrarich are donating their table scraps. I guess we shouldn't worry about taxing them after all.

    Edit to add: @rdxm -- my first thought was what you originally posted. If I could give you an upvote I would, rules or not.

  • by aresant on 8/19/21, 11:37 PM

    Twitter and HN have amplified and normalized technology founders and CEOs as celebrities to the rest of us in this orbit.

    Who cares? (yes Dang I know it's upvoted so it's relevant haha).

    With Karp @ $2.1b net worth, this is akin to somebody worth $10m giving away $715.00. Or somebody worth $100,000 giving away $7.15.

    There is nothing notable about this story, other than Carp was probably browsing the internet, saw this "Local News Cares" tragic story and the subsequent GoFundMe and made a donation to a story that pulled on his heart strings just like the rest of us.