Tech CEO to Gen Z: You can have a social life or be successful — but not both

SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) — A tech CEO had some deflating advice for young people looking for work-life balance. Speaking at the Economic Club of Chicago last month, Alex Karp, co-founder and CEO of Palantir, told the audience that young people need to make a choice between having a social life or being successful.

“I’ve never met someone really successful who had a great social life at 20,” Karp told the audience. “If that’s what you want, that’s what you want, that’s great, but you’re not going to be successful and don’t blame anyone else.”

Karp, 57, co-founded Palantir with Peter Thiel, and is worth $16.8 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaire Index. Headquartered in Denver, Colorado, Palantir provides artificial intelligence-backed tech for corporate, government and military use.

Karp is one of an increasing number of tech CEOs to have also questioned the need to go to college in order to have a successful career in tech.

The company also has an office in Palo Alto.

Work-life balance has become increasingly fraught in the tech industry, particularly in San Francisco, where the city’s grinding AI startup culture is gravitating toward the demanding 72-hour “996” work schedule.

Speaking to Fortune earlier this year, Lucy Guo, the 30-year-old billionaire cofounder of Scale AI said that if you’re seeking work-life balance, “maybe you’re not in the right work.”