Alex Karp bought 37,000 acres of Swedish forest for $22 million and local hunters could no longer lease the land - why wealthy buyers are looking beyond traditional assets

Alex Karp is one of the technology industry’s most recognizable executives, but one of his latest purchases has nothing to do with artificial intelligence.

The Palantir cofounder and CEO has acquired 15,000 hectares, or about 37,000 acres, of forest in Härjedalen, Sweden, for a reported 235 million Swedish kronor, or $22 million. The purchase was made through Cladonia Skog AB, a newly registered company of which Karp is the beneficial owner, according to Fortune.

What makes the transaction interesting is that the people who noticed it first were not investors or technology executives. They were local hunters.

A billionaire buys a forest and hunters lose their leases

The property sits near the quiet village of Storsjö Kapell, an area known for hiking and fishing.

Before Karp’s company acquired the forest, it belonged to Svenska Cellulosa Aktiebolaget, or SCA, a paper manufacturer. SCA told Fortune that it sold the property because it was considered suboptimal for forestry.

The change in ownership had an immediate consequence for people who used the land. Hunters received notices saying they could no longer lease the property for hunting. SCA had previously granted hunting rights through leases lasting about 11 months, with the agreements subject to annual review and renewal.

SCA spokesperson Robert Östholm told Fortune that once the company sold the land, it could no longer grant hunting rights because it no longer owned the property.

That detail gives the $22 million transaction a distinctly human dimension. On a balance sheet, it is a large forest changing hands. For local hunters, it meant losing access to land they had previously been able to lease.

What Alex Karp plans to do with 37,000 acres

Karp’s company has said the forest will be used to “carry out forestry and other related activities,” as quoted by Fortune.

At the same time, the company has emphasized preserving the property. Jenny Lopes Da Silva, a Cladonia board member and a sales manager at Scandinavian Trust, which brokered the transaction, said the new owner was committed to the beauty and preservation of the land. She said the forest provides habitats for plants and animals while also serving as a place for recreation and restoration, as per the Fortune report.

So the reported plans are not simply about owning a large piece of wilderness. Cladonia has described both forestry-related activity and preservation as part of its approach to the property.

Why billionaires are increasingly interested in land

Karp’s purchase also fits into a larger trend that Fortune highlights, wealthy people acquiring natural land.

Steve Bruere, president of agricultural real-estate firm Peoples Company, told Fortune that farmland has become a $4.3 trillion asset class in the U.S. alone.

Fortune notes that land is finite, while carbon credits have also created an incentive for owning agricultural land such as forests.

But the attraction of land is not necessarily limited to its potential financial value. Bruere previously told Fortune that people have increasingly appreciated the nonfinancial uses of farmland, including hiking, fishing, hunting and growing food. He said that trend emerged after the COVID era, when people were stuck in homes and apartments and began looking for alternative investments.

Karp’s Swedish purchase is a particularly large example of that broader interest.

Karp has already bought another huge property

The Swedish forest is also not Karp’s first reported major land purchase. Fortune notes that Karp has previously purchased land for recreational purposes, including a 3,700-acre monastery compound in Colorado’s Capitol Creek Valley.

The property sold for $120 million, according to The Wall Street Journal, and the deal also included water rights to irrigate 1,500 acres.

That earlier purchase provides another example of Karp acquiring land on a scale far removed from an ordinary residential property.

The Sweden connection existed before the forest purchase

Karp’s relationship with Sweden also predates the land deal. Palantir has a partnership with Swedish defense authorities, which the company’s Sweden country manager, Anders Fridén, confirmed earlier this year, according to Fortune.

Palantir expanded its software-development offering in Europe about a decade ago. Fortune also notes that the European Union’s continued use of Palantir’s services has raised concerns as Europe seeks to reduce its reliance on U.S. technology and AI.

The forest purchase is separate from Palantir’s corporate activities. But it gives Karp another, much more personal connection to Sweden.