A Canadian engineer sold his property and bet almost his entire net worth on shares of software company Palantir.
After he bought in, the share price fell as low as $6, but he kept adding to his position.
By this October, his Palantir shares were worth nearly $3 million—20 million yuan—and he’d quit his job and retired at 47.
The day he handed in his resignation, he posted that he’d be picking up his Porsche that Sunday
🤣
His name is Etienne Breton, and he worked as a mechanical engineer in Quebec, Canada.
More than 20 years ago, he traded stocks too. After 9/11, the market plunged, and he was so scared that he sold everything. He didn’t touch stocks again after that.
When the market crashed during the pandemic in 2020, he saw people panicking and selling all their shares, so he opened an account instead. At work, he was constantly dealing with messy data and supply-chain problems. Later, he came across Palantir on YouTube—a company that provides data analytics for the U.S. military and major corporations, specializing in solving exactly those kinds of problems. After doing his research, he decided Palantir was a great company with no competitors and a strong competitive moat, and that it was 10 times better than the alternatives. So he decided to go all in. At the end of 2020, he sold his property and started buying shares at around $10, putting his entire net worth into Palantir. The stock rose for a while after he bought, then began a long slide, falling to $6 by the end of 2022.
He didn’t panic at all; he just kept buying. Every time he bought, he recorded it on his garage wall. By January 2023, the wall showed 9,544 shares. By mid-2023, the share price had recovered to $10, and he already had 10,000 shares, with an average cost of $8.83—so his total cost was less than $90,000.
Over the next few years, he borrowed money to buy a few thousand more shares, then earned money by selling options and used the proceeds to buy more stock.
Then the AI boom arrived, and Palantir kept climbing. This October, it peaked at $212, and his Palantir shares were briefly worth nearly $3 million. He handed in his resignation last November and officially retired on April 30 this year. That day, he posted: “Retired at 47, starting today. Palantir made it happen.” He still hasn’t sold a single share; he covers his everyday expenses with the money he earns selling options.
After he bought in, the share price fell as low as $6, but he kept adding to his position.
By this October, his Palantir shares were worth nearly $3 million—20 million yuan—and he’d quit his job and retired at 47.
The day he handed in his resignation, he posted that he’d be picking up his Porsche that Sunday
🤣
His name is Etienne Breton, and he worked as a mechanical engineer in Quebec, Canada.
More than 20 years ago, he traded stocks too. After 9/11, the market plunged, and he was so scared that he sold everything. He didn’t touch stocks again after that.
When the market crashed during the pandemic in 2020, he saw people panicking and selling all their shares, so he opened an account instead. At work, he was constantly dealing with messy data and supply-chain problems. Later, he came across Palantir on YouTube—a company that provides data analytics for the U.S. military and major corporations, specializing in solving exactly those kinds of problems. After doing his research, he decided Palantir was a great company with no competitors and a strong competitive moat, and that it was 10 times better than the alternatives. So he decided to go all in. At the end of 2020, he sold his property and started buying shares at around $10, putting his entire net worth into Palantir. The stock rose for a while after he bought, then began a long slide, falling to $6 by the end of 2022.
He didn’t panic at all; he just kept buying. Every time he bought, he recorded it on his garage wall. By January 2023, the wall showed 9,544 shares. By mid-2023, the share price had recovered to $10, and he already had 10,000 shares, with an average cost of $8.83—so his total cost was less than $90,000.
Over the next few years, he borrowed money to buy a few thousand more shares, then earned money by selling options and used the proceeds to buy more stock.
Then the AI boom arrived, and Palantir kept climbing. This October, it peaked at $212, and his Palantir shares were briefly worth nearly $3 million. He handed in his resignation last November and officially retired on April 30 this year. That day, he posted: “Retired at 47, starting today. Palantir made it happen.” He still hasn’t sold a single share; he covers his everyday expenses with the money he earns selling options.
