Thread

Palantir founder purchases large swath of forest in Sweden

119 points · 94 comments · davidja

mertleee · 1790629448 · focus · HN ↗
Assuming this is for conservation, it's hard to find reasons this is a bad thing.
1. mahboi · 1790629621 · focus · HN ↗
  Why would Alex Karp randomly buy Swedish forest for conservation?
  1. unreal6 · 1790629751 · focus · HN ↗
    It is well known he loves to nordic ski
    <a href="https://fortune.com/well/2023/02/03/billionaire-palantir-ceo-alex-karp-skis-5-hours-day-runs-like-deer-same-body-fat-percentage-michael-phelps-when-training-olympics/" rel="nofollow">https://fortune.com/well/2023/02/03/billionaire-palantir-ceo...
  2. xhevahir · 1790629757 · focus · HN ↗
    Skiing. He arranges his life around Nordic skiing to an incredible degree.
    mahboi · 1790629773 · focus · HN ↗
    Ok that makes a lot more sense
    fhdkweig · 1790629905 · focus · HN ↗
    I don't really know anything about skiing, but can you do that in a virgin old-growth forest?
    rafram · 1790630257 · focus · HN ↗
    Who said it's a virgin old-growth forest?
    Ekaros · 1790631016 · focus · HN ↗
    I too doubt it is actually old-growth. Probably industrial forest. Which means that there is plenty of space around most of the trees.
    raddan · 1790630369 · focus · HN ↗
    Yes. All you really need are paths. This is a bit of an overgeneralization since forests in different places have different growth habits, but many old growth forests have less underbrush. During the winter, these forests are pretty easy to navigate on Nordic skis. If he wants to skate instead of doing the classic stride, I’m sure he can afford to groom the paths. Grooming really just requires a fancy snowmobile.
    daneel_w · 1790630383 · focus · HN ↗
    It might not get to remain a virgin old-growth forest. If the Swedish logging companies can get away with it, he probably can, too.
    germinalphrase · 1790630395 · focus · HN ↗
    Potentially. Depending on the style of skiing, you may only need a 2-3 ft wide pathway. That said, ski paths tend to be cleared of trees/large rocks and span about 10-15 feet wide.
    sorenjan · 1790632060 · focus · HN ↗
    It's not far from a skiing resort.
    <a href="https://funasdalen.se/en/winter/skiing/cross-country-skiing/" rel="nofollow">https://funasdalen.se/en/winter/skiing/cross-country-skiing/
    occz · 1790687960 · focus · HN ↗
    It's not going to be entirely virgin since you need to actually clear some amount of paths to be able to lay down tracks, but you certainly don't need to clear it entirely. I'd say that cross-country ski tracks are compatible with forest conservation goals.
    cryptolobster · 1790630162 · focus · HN ↗
    It still seems a bit strange
    fragmede · 1790632681 · focus · HN ↗
    Couldn't let the Netflix guy buy up the one in Utah and have bragging rights.
    JumpCrisscross · 1790633286 · focus · HN ↗
    Alpine versus cross country.
  3. fhdkweig · 1790629783 · focus · HN ↗
    Trying to buy himself back into heaven, like Bill Gates did. We only have the article's quotation for evidence, but it does say:
    > Karp made the purchase through his newly registered company Cladonia Skog AB. The chairman of Cladonia told the Swedish newspaper that the land provides valuable habitat for wildlife and space for recreation.
    colordrops · 1790629907 · focus · HN ↗
    He plans to create a ground for hunting humans, a la "The Most Dangerous Game".
    moralestapia · 1790630184 · focus · HN ↗
    I wouldn't be surprised.
    Karp strikes me as the type of person that would do this "for fun".

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