Jacob Helberg, senior advisor to Palantir CEO Alex Karp and a major Trump donor, was confirmed as the 22nd Under Secretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment on October 7, 2025, by a 51-47 vote. He assumed the position on October 16, 2025.
As Under Secretary, Helberg shapes U.S. economic diplomacy, trade policy, energy agreements, and technology transfer rules -- all areas where Palantir and the broader Thiel-network portfolio have enormous commercial stakes. The conflict-of-interest exposure is staggering: according to his May 2025 ethics disclosure and reporting by Sludge and Bloomberg, Helberg plans to retain investments in hundreds of companies, including OpenAI, Anduril Industries, SpaceX, the Boring Company, and Neuralink. Many of these holdings are tied to Founders Fund (Thiel's venture capital firm) and Khosla Ventures, where Helberg's husband Keith Rabois serves as managing director.
His Senate Foreign Relations Committee confirmation hearing advanced with no substantial discussion of these conflicts. Helberg openly acknowledged a "heightened risk" of conflicts of interest but was permitted to retain his portfolio nonetheless. This placement puts a Palantir insider with active financial interests in defense-tech, AI, and space companies in charge of the State Department bureau that negotiates international technology and trade agreements -- agreements that directly affect the value of his retained investments and the commercial prospects of companies across the Thiel network.