It’s rarely boring with Alex Karp. For his Christmas speech this year, the manager shot a video that shows him cross-country skiing. Karp is a fan of winter sports and explains that it’s similar to his business: you train and sleep and train while others are having fun. But at some point you glide through the landscape and overcome gravity, says Karp, standing in the middle of a wintry landscape with the Norwegian flag on your hat. This is also the case with his company Palantir, whose work lays the foundation for the West to live in security and for American soldiers to be protected during operations. The fact that Karp likes winter climes is also shown by his purchase of a former monastery in the mountains of Aspen for an incredible $120 million, which he basically gave himself as a gift shortly before Christmas. And the fact that he presents himself with the Norwegian flag is also fitting in a certain way, because the country sometimes dominates the competition in winter sports at will. Karp sees Palantir in a similar position: Officially, the Americans sell software, but de facto they are one of the most influential security companies in the world. The battles of the 21st century are no longer just fought with tanks, missiles or drones. It’s about information, education and speed in the decision-making chain, and Palantir is increasingly playing a central role in this. Be it on the battlefields of Ukraine or tracking down hostages in the Gaza Strip – Palantir is involved in the crucial areas, they say. However, much of it is subject to secrecy, which contributes to the myth that surrounds it.Karp works on Germany with passionThe fact that these services are in demand can be seen in the share price development. The papers really took off last year, and the soaring continued in 2025. Price gains of up to 180 percent pushed the market capitalization towards half a trillion dollars. Not only is the expected sales of $4.4 billion relatively low, but it continues to fuel speculation that Palantir could be part of a huge bubble surrounding artificial intelligence that may soon burst. Dependence on public contracts is also sometimes seen as a major risk. In the home market, however, this has so far been more of a bonus: an order worth $440 million from the US Navy just arrived in December. This means that the most eccentric CEO, not only in the American technology scene, is entering the new year with plenty of tailwind. Unlike Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg or his Apple colleague Tim Cook, Karp has not yet had to make any embarrassing kneel-downs to Donald Trump. However, out of obvious conviction, he recently praised the US President in an interview with the “Handelsblatt” as a “brilliant politician” who is very underestimated, especially in Germany. Germany in general: Karp works on his grandfather’s country of origin with passion and hearty words, preferably in German, because he once studied sociology in Frankfurt and learned the language. Nobody talks about the land of poets and thinkers anymore, says Karp and asks whether they can afford to treat him and the US investor Peter Thiel, also of German descent, who still holds more than three percent of Palantir. From top left to bottom right: Roland Busch (Siemens), Alex Karp (Palantir), Oliver Zipse (BMW), Bob Iger (Walt Disney), Evelyn Palla (Deutsche Bahn) Bernd Schifferdecker All of this sounds less like the cool analysis of a manager and more like a spurned lover who is still mourning the ex-wife. And so Karp also admits that the country is still close to his heart. However, a battle has long been raging in this country over whether its software should be used by the police or not. Some federal states are already doing it, others are refusing, and the current debate about European technological sovereignty is playing into the hands of the opponents. Allegedly, after a phase of demonstrative disregard, Karp has recently become more interested in Germany again. No wonder, as billions will flow into the broader defense and security industry in the coming years. It remains to be seen whether 2026 can be the year in which Alex Karp will once again take a step towards the German elites that he was so happy to put in the lace. Zipse puts in more than a solid performance. The new year will definitely bring a turning point for Oliver Zipse. After the annual general meeting in May, the CEO of the car manufacturer BMW will hand over his position to the current production director Milan Nedeljković. Then almost seven years will have passed before he has again inherited Harald Krüger. At that time, the German auto industry was deeply involved in a contentious dispute over how strictly the course towards electromobility should be pursued. While Volkswagen in particular under then CEO Herbert Diess wanted to put the diesel scandal behind them as quickly as possible and build a green image, BMW under Zipse stuck to its approach of openness to technology. More on the topic What seemed to outsiders to be a dispute among academics almost tore the industry association VDA apart at the time and proved to be a decisive economic question in the coming years. Because both Volkswagen and BMW’s long-term rival Mercedes (then still Daimler-Benz) under its CEO Ola Källenius, who took up his post just a few days before Zipse, vastly overestimated the ramp-up of electromobility. The Swede Källenius has long since had to give up his fixation on luxury and electric for the US, Europe and China/Asia markets because customers demand far less of the cars than expected and are instead converting the production lines back to combustion engine models. Oliver Blume, who after Diess was jointly responsible for Volkswagen and the luxury brand Porsche, also had to make a hard change in direction. Oliver Zipse and Friedrich MerzAFPNur Zipse stayed true to his line, nurtured the combustion engine and at the same time set the course for electromobility with major investments in the “New Class” models. His performance since taking up his post has been more than solid given the difficult developments on the automotive markets in times of Corona, torn supply chains and new powerful competition from China: the share price has since increased by almost 50 percent, and therefore stronger than the Dax, and the market capitalization grew by almost a third to almost 57 billion euros. Whether that is enough for BMW to remain independent in the long term in a global car market that is becoming increasingly consolidated is just as unclear as the acceptance that BMW will find with its new electric models. But his successor will have to contend with these challenges. Because for the 61-year-old Zipse, due to the internal age limit for board members at BMW, it will soon be over. Bob Iger sends shock waves through the US film and cultural scene. Compared to Robert Allen Iger, you could still call Zipse a young jumper. The American manager, known to everyone as Bob, celebrates his 75th birthday in February and is still at the top of the board of Walt Disney, probably the most famous entertainment company in the world. You could also say “again”, because Iger had already handed over his office to his successor Bob Chapek in 2020. However, after his dismissal, he returned in 2022 and will now lead Disney until at least the end of 2026. Iger, who was once considered the most influential manager in Hollywood, found himself in the middle of a political minefield this year. In the fall, Disney canceled popular host Jimmy Kimmel’s talk show following his controversial comments surrounding the murder of activist Charlie Kirk. President Donald Trump’s camp had previously put a lot of pressure on ABC, which belongs to Disney. Iger, who had previously flirted with a presidential candidacy for the Democrats, came under massive criticism after his decision. It was about nothing less than freedom of expression and what a comedian is allowed to say on television. The speakers included film icons such as Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks. Particularly spicy: Iger’s predecessor Michael Eisner called the triggering threat to Kimmel from the head of the supervisory authority “aggressive but hollow” and thus made it clear that he disapproved of his successor’s decision. Iger gave in after a few days and Kimmel went back on the air. Bob Iger from Walt DisneyAFPShortly before Christmas, Iger once again sent shockwaves through America’s film and cultural scene when the collaboration with the AI company Open AI became known. As part of a collaboration and an equity investment of one billion dollars, characters such as Mickey Mouse and Darth Vader will in future be able to be edited using the artificial intelligence of ChatGPT inventor Open AI. More specifically, its video platform Sora is allowed to bring the characters to life for customers. Disney emphasizes the strict requirements – no original voices, no alcohol, no sex. Nevertheless, the deal is seen as a possible breach of the dam in an industry that has long been in the fight for survival against artificial intelligence. At the home stretch of his long, impressive career, veteran Iger defends his decision as a step forward in creating a future for the industry. “No generation of people has ever been able to stand in the way of progress, and we don’t even want to try,” he said. Disney would rather participate in a future market than just watch its business being exposed to disruption. Busch is undergoing a remarkable metamorphosis Siemens has long since put its own disruption behind it. Former CEO Joe Kaeser split the former general store into three new units, saying he preferred to do it himself before an activist investor pressured him to do so. Since then, Kaeser himself has headed the supervisory board of Siemens Energy, while Roland Busch took his place in 2021 after a long wait. Many observers saw the tall physicist as a kind of antipode to the media-savvy Kaeser; a fact-oriented natural scientist who did not see it as one of his most important tasks to explain the world and his company to the public in television appearances and newspaper interviews. Since then, Roland Busch has undergone a remarkable metamorphosis. With a view to Siemens AG, he has proven that at Wittelsbacherplatz in Munich, even without an energy business and health technology, people can work on the future more than ever and make good money. Under his leadership, the company was tuned for efficiency and, despite temporary slack, achieved double-digit margins in the automation business, for example. Pandering to Jensen Huang? Roland Busch in January 2024 in Las VegasAFPBusch coined the catchphrase “Industrial Metaverse,” which means a virtual environment in which entire factories, energy systems or trains are digitally planned, simulated and optimized in real time. This can save huge amounts of money. When visiting American tech companies, the Franconian swapped his suit for a white shirt and a leather jacket, which some saw as ingratiating; after all, Jensen Huang, the boss of the chip giant Nvidia, is known for this casual outfit. But Busch ensured that Siemens became a sought-after contact in the US technology scene with its access to valuable industrial data. His change in public debates is just as striking. After the resignation of BASF boss Martin Brudermüller, the role of DAX face became vacant. Busch is currently the person most likely to fill it alongside Deutsche Bank boss Christian Sewing. There is no lack of clear words about excessive bureaucracy, nor of a clear commitment to democracy, which is increasingly coming under pressure in the face of growing authoritarian developments, which is something Busch is openly concerned about. Together with Sewing and a communications agency, Busch is also the driving force behind the “Made for Germany” campaign, which makes investments in Germany transparent despite all the location doubts. There was no lack of criticism about the implementation, but one thing is clear: Roland Busch is present.Palla is Newcomer of the YearThe title of Newcomer 2025 clearly belongs to Evelyn Palla. On October 1st, the South Tyrolean took up her position at the head of Deutsche Bahn. Her predecessor Richard Lutz was considered part of the problem because he came from the company and was not expected to make the necessary tough cuts. The 52-year-old Palla, on the other hand, had already earned her spurs at the energy giant Eon, the Austrian Telekom and the state railway ÖBB in the Alpine republic before she came to Deutsche Bahn in 2019. There she was responsible for finances on the board of the long-distance transport division, later she moved up to the group board and took over responsibility for regional transport. Now the first woman at the top of Deutsche Bahn is supposed to achieve what her predecessors failed at: making the railway punctual and economical. She doesn’t let any time pass on this mission. True to the old management motto of making tough cuts right from the start and brutally exposing hidden problems of the old management, she has ensured that the recent debacle surrounding the Stuttgart 21 train station project will not be attributed to her. Railway boss Evelyn PallaAFPShe has already almost completely replaced the railway board and reduced its size by two places, probably also under pressure from the Ministry of Finance. A smaller committee does not have to be a disadvantage, especially not in a state-owned company. On the contrary, ex-politicians and party members at supply posts have often been a source of trouble in the past. Palla has already presented a concept of how she wants to move the often dysfunctional railway group forward. Bringing more decision-making power to the area is a core point of their agenda. Conversely, the hydrohead in the Berlin headquarters should shrink: 30 percent of the managers have to leave, half of the management levels will be eliminated. But a lot is still in the making, as the woman knows, and she can currently (still) rely on support from the union camp, which is an important factor given the size of the task. Nevertheless, Palla is aware of the magnitude of the challenge. “2026 will be the year of difficult decisions,” she said in an interview with the F.A.S. If Palla keeps up her pace, it will definitely be an exciting year for the track.
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