Saudi Press

Saudi Arabia and the world
Saturday, Feb 07, 2026

Palantir’s billionaire CEO gives ousted hermit $180K to rebuild cabin

Palantir’s billionaire CEO gives ousted hermit $180K to rebuild cabin

Palantir CEO Alex Karp cut 'River Dave' Lidstone a personal check last week, hermit's friend says

The billionaire founder of data analytics firm Palantir donated $180,000 to a former hermit in New Hampshire so he can rebuild his cabin, which burned down amid a property dispute earlier this month — but in a new location.

Alex Karp, the CEO of Palantir, cut David Lidstone a personal check last week so he can start over, Lidstone’s friend, Jodie Gedeon said in a Facebook post.

Lidstone, or "River Dave" as he’s known by boaters and kayakers, was jailed last month for refusing to leave the land where he was squatting for almost three decades.

His cabin was then burned to the ground earlier this month in a blaze that is being investigated by local authorities.

David Lidstone, 81, sits near the Merrimack River, Tuesday, Aug. 10, 2021, in Boscawen, N.H. Lidstone, an off-the-grid New Hampshire hermit known to locals as "River Dave," had been living in a cabin in the woods along the Merrimack River, in Canterb


Lisa Gordon, a Palantir spokesperson, confirmed that Karp made the donation to The Post but declined to comment further. The donation was first reported by The Concord Monitor.

Karp reportedly has a home in New Hampshire’s Grafton County.

"How can I express myself and my gratitude towards something like that? I start to tear up whenever I think about it," Lidstone told the Monitor. "For an old logger who always had to work, for anyone to give you that type of money, it’s incredibly difficult for me to get my head around."

Lidstone’s friend, Gedeon, told the Monitor that Lidstone will stay in a temporary house for the winter "but we’re not going to be able to build until spring."

Right now, the money is set up in "a trust for Dave and it’s going to be utilized to build him a new home," she reportedly said.

The location is being kept secret to protect Lidstone’s privacy, Gedeon said.

Alex Karp, the CEO of Palantir, cut David Lidstone a personal check last week so he can start over, Lidstone’s friend, Jodie Gedeon said in a Facebook post.


Lidstone made headlines and sparked an outpouring of support after he was arrested and accused of squatting for 27 years on property owned by Leonard Giles of Vermont.

The property, undeveloped and mostly used for timber harvests, has been owned by the same family since 1963.

Lidstone had said a prior owner in the family gave his word years ago that he could live there, but had nothing in writing. He later disputed that he was even on the property.

Smoke rises Wednesday, Aug. 4, 2021, from the burnt remains of a cabin in Canterbury, N.H., inhabited by 81-year-old David Lidstone.


Since his emergence in the public spotlight, Lidstone has said he’s not sure he can ever return to his former off-the-grid life as a hermit.

"I don’t see how I can go back to being a hermit because society is not going to allow it," David Lidstone said in an interview with The Associated Press.


"Maybe the things I’ve been trying to avoid are the things that I really need in life," said Lidstone, who drifted apart from his family. "I grew up never being hugged or kissed, or any close contact.

"I had somebody ask me once, about my wife: ‘Did you really love her?’ And the question kind of shocked me for a second. I … I’ve never loved anybody in my life. And I shocked myself because I hadn’t realized that. And that’s why I was a hermit. Now I can see love being expressed that I never had before."

Newsletter

Related Articles

Saudi Press
0:00
0:00
Close
Apple iPhone Lockdown Mode blocks FBI data access in journalist device seizure
Foreign Governments and Corporations Spend Millions with Trump-Linked Lobbying Firm in Washington
KPMG Urges Auditor to Relay AI Cost Savings
Saudi Arabia Quietly Allows Wealthy Foreign Residents to Buy Alcohol, Signalling Policy Shift
US and Iran to Begin Nuclear Talks in Oman
China unveils plans for a 'Death Star' capable of launching missile strikes from space
Investigation Launched at Winter Olympics Over Ski Jumpers Injecting Hyaluronic Acid
U.S. State Department Issues Urgent Travel Warning for Citizens to Leave Iran Immediately
Wall Street Erases All Gains of 2026; Bitcoin Plummets 14% to $63,000
Eighty-one-year-old man in the United States fatally shoots Uber driver after scam threat
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz Begins Strategic Gulf Tour with Saudi Arabia Visit
Dubai Awards Tunnel Contract for Dubai Loop as Boring Company Plans Pilot Network
Five Key Takeaways From President Erdoğan’s Strategic Visit to Saudi Arabia
AI Invented “Hot Springs” — Tourists Arrived and Were Shocked
Erdoğan’s Saudi Arabia Visit Focuses on Trade, Investment and Strategic Cooperation
Germany and Saudi Arabia Move to Deepen Energy Cooperation Amid Global Transition
Saudi Aviation Records Historic Passenger Traffic in 2025 and Sets Sights on Further Growth in 2026
Tech Market Shifts and AI Investment Surge Drive Global Innovation and Layoffs
Global Shifts in War, Trade, Energy and Security Mark Major International Developments
Tesla Ends Model S and X Production and Sends $2 Billion to xAI as 2025 Revenue Declines
The AI Hiring Doom Loop — Algorithmic Recruiting Filters Out Top Talent and Rewards Average or Fake Candidates
Federal Reserve Holds Interest Rate at 3.75% as Powell Faces DOJ Criminal Investigation During 2026 Decision
Putin’s Four-Year Ukraine Invasion Cost: Russia’s Mass Casualty Attrition and the Donbas Security-Guarantee Tradeoff
Saudi Crown Prince Tells Iranian President: Kingdom Will Not Host Attacks Against Iran
U.S. Central Command Announces Regional Air Exercise as Iran Unveils Drone Carrier Footage
Trump Defends Saudi Crown Prince in Heated Exchange After Reporter Questions Khashoggi Murder and 9/11 Links
Saudi Stocks Rally as Kingdom Prepares to Fully Open Capital Market to Global Investors
Air France and KLM Suspend Multiple Middle East Routes as Regional Tensions Disrupt Aviation
Saudi Arabia scales back Neom as The Line is redesigned and Trojena downsized
Saudi Industrial Group Completes One Point Three Billion Dollar Acquisition of South Africa’s Barloworld
Saudi-Backed LIV Golf Confirms Return to Trump National Bedminster for 2026 Season
Gold Jumps More Than 8% in a Week as the Dollar Slides Amid Greenland Tariff Dispute
Boston Dynamics Atlas humanoid robot and LG CLOiD home robot: the platform lock-in fight to control Physical AI
United States under President Donald Trump completes withdrawal from the World Health Organization: health sovereignty versus global outbreak early-warning access
Trump Administration’s Iran Military Buildup and Sanctions Campaign Puts Deterrence Credibility on the Line
Tech Brief: AI Compute, Chips, and Platform Power Moves Driving Today’s Market Narrative
NATO’s Stress Test Under Trump: Alliance Credibility, Burden-Sharing, and the Fight Over Strategic Territory
Saudi Arabia’s Careful Balancing Act in Relations with Israel Amid Regional and Domestic Pressures
Greenland, Gaza, and Global Leverage: Today’s 10 Power Stories Shaping Markets and Security
America’s Venezuela Oil Grip Meets China’s Demand: Market Power, Legal Shockwaves, and the New Rules of Energy Leverage
Trump’s Board of Peace: Breakthrough Diplomacy or a Hostile Takeover of Global Order?
Prince William to Make Official Visit to Saudi Arabia in February
Saudi Arabia Advances Ambitious Artificial River Mega-Project to Transform Water Security
Saudi Crown Prince and Syrian President Discuss Stabilisation, Reconstruction and Regional Ties in Riyadh Talks
Mohammed bin Salman Confronts the ‘Iranian Moment’ as Saudi Leadership Faces Regional Test
Cybercrime, Inc.: When Crime Becomes an Economy. How the World Accidentally Built a Twenty-Trillion-Dollar Criminal Economy
Strategic Restraint, Credible Force, and the Discipline of Power
Donald Trump Organization Unveils Championship Golf Course and Luxury Resort Project in Saudi Arabia
Inside Diriyah: Saudi Arabia’s $63.2 Billion Vision to Transform Its Historic Heart into a Global Tourism Powerhouse
Trump Designates Saudi Arabia a Major Non-NATO Ally, Elevating US–Riyadh Defense Partnership
×