Palmer Luckey: The Radical Zionist

He sold Oculus to Facebook for $2 billion. He got fired for backing Trump. Now he runs a $61 billion defense unicorn — and he's building it for Israel.

By Ronn Torossian

"I'm actually a radical Zionist."

That is Palmer Luckey — 33 years old, founder of Anduril Industries, a $61 billion American defense company, and one of the most consequential pro-Israel voices in U.S. technology — on Shawn Ryan's podcast in February 2025, explaining himself plainly to an audience of millions.

He has said it before. He keeps saying it. And in February 2026, he flew to Tel Aviv, sat down with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and started laying the groundwork for an Israeli operation. Engineers. Investments. Acquisitions. A buyer of record for the next generation of Israeli defense-tech.

This is not a celebrity-Zionist. This is a builder. And his conviction is now infrastructure.

Palmer Luckey — at a glance

• Name — Palmer Freeman Luckey.
• Born — September 19, 1992, Long Beach, California.
• Net worth — $3.5 billion (Forbes, February 2026).
• Founded — Oculus VR (2012). Anduril Industries (2017).
• Oculus exit — $2 billion to Facebook, 2014. Aged 21. One of the largest consumer-tech venture exits of the decade.
• Anduril valuation — $61 billion. $5 billion raised, May 2026.
• Anduril 2025 revenue — $2.2 billion.
• Anduril headcount — ~7,000, up from 90 in 2019.
• Anduril co-founders — Trae Stephens, Matt Grimm, Brian Schimpf (ex-Palantir); Joseph Chen (ex-Oculus).
• Key backers — Andreessen Horowitz, Thrive Capital (Josh Kushner), Founders Fund (Peter Thiel), Lux Capital (Josh Wolfe), 8VC (Joe Lonsdale).
• Israel position — Self-described "radical Zionist." Met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Tel Aviv, February 2026.
• Politics — Republican donor. Hosted Trump fundraiser at his Lido Isle, Newport Beach home, October 2020.

From The Garage To $2 Billion

Palmer Freeman Luckey was born September 19, 1992, in Long Beach, California. Homeschooled. Three younger sisters. Father at a car dealership. He built electronics in his parents' trailer as a teenager. By 19, he had prototyped a virtual reality headset that Gabe Newell of Valve called the most exciting thing in gaming.

In 2012, Luckey founded Oculus VR. The Kickstarter raised $2.4 million — 974% of target. In 2014, Facebook bought it for $2 billion. Luckey was 21.

He was out of Facebook by 2017.

Fired For The Wrong Politics

In September 2016, Luckey donated $10,000 to Nimble America — a pro-Trump, anti-Hillary group operating out of the r/The_Donald subreddit. The Wall Street Journal reported he was pressured into a public apology as a condition of employment. Six months later, he was gone.

Facebook denied the firing was political. Luckey has been blunt about it ever since. On 60 Minutes in May 2025: "It boils down to I gave $9,000 to a political group that was for Donald Trump and against Hillary Clinton."

In October 2020, he hosted a Trump fundraiser at his home in Lido Isle, Newport Beach, with the president in attendance.

The lesson Luckey took from the Facebook ejection: never again build a company where his politics could be used against him by the people writing his paycheck. So he built his own.

Anduril — Named After A Sword

In June 2017, Luckey co-founded Anduril Industries with three Palantir alumni — Trae Stephens, Matt Grimm, Brian Schimpf — and Oculus hardware lead Joseph Chen. The name is the sword Andúril from The Lord of the Rings. The brand was the message.

Anduril builds autonomous drones, counter-drone systems, sensor towers, undersea vehicles, and command software for the U.S. military and allied governments. The thesis: the legacy defense primes — Lockheed, RTX, Northrop, Boeing — are too slow, too dependent on cost-plus contracting, and too unwilling to build software-defined hardware at internet speed. Anduril ships.

The capital stack

$5 billion raised last month at a $61 billion valuation — led by Andreessen Horowitz and Thrive Capital (Josh Kushner). A year earlier, the company was worth $30 billion. 2025 revenue: $2.2 billion. Headcount: 7,000, up from 90 in 2019. Backers across rounds include Founders Fund (Peter Thiel), Lux Capital (Josh Wolfe), and 8VC (Joe Lonsdale) — the same Palantir-network capital that funds the rest of the new American defense stack.

For the wider venture context — how Anduril sits inside the post-2017 wave of defense-tech capital, and which of its backers are also active inside Israel's venture market — see Olam's Venture & Exits coverage.

Alongside Palantir, Anduril is one of the only true startup-origin companies to break into the U.S. defense establishment as a primary supplier. Luckey's Forbes-listed net worth, as of February 2026: $3.5 billion.

The Zionist Doctrine

Luckey's pro-Israel position is not a recent pivot. It is a track record.

In October 2023, ten days after Hamas's October 7 massacre, Luckey took the stage at the Wall Street Journal Tech Live conference and said: "Israel has my unqualified support." He went further — calling out the American billionaire class for hedging: "It reflects very poorly on our billionaire class that you're not seeing a whole-of-country effort to become involved."

In a 2023 interview with Tablet magazine, he used the same framing — "radical Zionist," "unqualified support." In February 2025, on the Shawn Ryan Show, he doubled down: Jews have the right to a state for self-defense. The Holocaust made the case. Arguments against an Israeli ethnostate, in his framing, are "absurd."

Most American tech executives — even sympathetic ones — say less, more carefully. Luckey says it louder and more often.

That posture has cost him nothing commercially. Anduril's valuation has more than doubled since October 7. It has cost him protests — at National Taiwan University in August 2025, a coalition of student groups demonstrated against his appearance, citing the Tablet interview verbatim. He spoke anyway.

The February 2026 Visit

Luckey landed in Israel in February 2026. The trip was organized by Josh Wolfe of Lux Capital, one of Anduril's earliest backers. The schedule included a private meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu and an introduction to ten Israeli defense-tech startups, arranged by the Directorate of Defense Research and Development (DDR&D) at Israel's Ministry of Defense.

The ten: Smart Shooter — since gone public on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange — Kela, Oz, Skana Robotics, Regulus, Magnus Metal, eyesAtop, AriEV, ASIO, and LiteVision. Anduril has since signed with ASIO on components for its unmanned aerial systems. It has signaled investment interest in LiteVision, a Kinetica-backed drone-camera startup also funded by 8VC.

Four months later, Calcalist reported Anduril was actively interviewing candidates from Elbit Systems and DDR&D to lead an Israeli operation — local hiring, local development, local capital deployment. (Full coverage: Anduril Bets On Israel.)

"Israel is the most logical place for Anduril to be," Yitz Applbaum, chairman of Kinetica, told Calcalist in June. "They are interested in investing in startups here, acquiring companies, and potentially, down the road, selling to Israel's defense industry and the IDF."

The export-control architecture behind any U.S.–Israel defense-tech deal of this size sits under Olam's Strategic Technology Trade coverage.

Timeline — From Long Beach to Tel Aviv

1. 1992 — Born in Long Beach, California. Homeschooled. Three younger sisters.
2. 2012 — Founds Oculus VR at 19. Kickstarter raises $2.4 million — 974% of target.
3. 2014 — Facebook buys Oculus for $2 billion. Luckey is 21.
4. September 2016 — Donates $10,000 to Nimble America, a pro-Trump group. The Wall Street Journal story breaks.
5. 2017 — Out of Facebook. Co-founds Anduril Industries in June with Trae Stephens, Matt Grimm, Brian Schimpf (Palantir) and Joseph Chen (Oculus).
6. October 2020 — Hosts Trump fundraiser at his Lido Isle home in Newport Beach.
7. October 2023 — Ten days after the October 7 massacre, declares "Israel has my unqualified support" at WSJ Tech Live.
8. 2023 — Tablet interview. First use of "radical Zionist" as self-description in print.
9. February 2025 — Shawn Ryan Show appearance. The "radical Zionist" line goes viral.
10. May 2025 — 60 Minutes profile. Confirms the Facebook firing was political.
11. August 2025 — Protests at National Taiwan University citing the Tablet interview. Speaks anyway.
12. February 2026 — Lands in Tel Aviv. Meets Netanyahu. DDR&D introduces him to ten Israeli defense-tech startups.
13. May 2026 — Anduril closes $5 billion round at $61 billion valuation, led by Andreessen Horowitz and Thrive Capital.
14. June 2026 — Calcalist reports Anduril hiring an Israel operation lead from Elbit Systems and DDR&D.

Why Luckey Is Structurally Different

Plenty of tech founders support Israel. Few have built a $61 billion company explicitly designed to win Western defense procurement at internet speed — and fewer still are willing to stake the brand on Zionism publicly.

Compare the field. Alex Karp of Palantir — vocal, philosophical, deeply pro-Israel, but Karp's company predates the war economy by 20 years. Peter Thiel — the most consequential pro-Israel capital allocator in Silicon Valley, but a backer, not an operator. Joe Lonsdale — same posture, similar network. Josh Wolfe — same. Marc Andreessen — late convert.

Luckey is the operator. He builds the hardware. He sets the company culture. He gives the speeches. He shows up in Tel Aviv with a checkbook.

And his conviction is downstream of his strategy, not the other way around. Anduril's bet is that the post-1991 American defense procurement model is finished — that the next 20 years of Western defense will be built by companies that can build software, manufacture at scale, and ship inside the relevant geopolitical timeline. Israel sits at the center of that map. So does Taiwan. So does Ukraine.

Luckey's politics happen to align with where the strategy already pointed. That is the most dangerous kind of conviction — the kind that pays.

The Pattern

A homeschooled kid from Long Beach. A $2 billion exit at 21. A firing for the wrong politics. A $61 billion defense company. A self-declared radical Zionist with the Israeli prime minister on speed dial and an open mandate to invest, hire, and acquire inside the Jewish state.

Most Israeli tech founders spent the last two years asking which American investors were still willing to back them publicly after October 7.

Palmer Luckey is the answer.

Frequently asked questions

Who is Palmer Luckey?

Palmer Freeman Luckey is an American technology entrepreneur, the founder of Oculus VR (2012) and co-founder of Anduril Industries (2017). He sold Oculus to Facebook for $2 billion in 2014 at age 21, was forced out of Facebook in 2017 over his political donations, and now runs Anduril — a $61 billion defense company that has emerged as one of the most important new entrants in the U.S. defense industrial base.

How old is Palmer Luckey?

33. Born September 19, 1992, in Long Beach, California.

What is Palmer Luckey's net worth?

$3.5 billion, according to Forbes, February 2026. His wealth is concentrated in Anduril equity following the company's May 2026 round at a $61 billion valuation.

Is Palmer Luckey Jewish?

No. Luckey is not Jewish. He describes himself publicly as a "radical Zionist" on philosophical and strategic grounds — arguing that Jews have a right to a state for self-defense, and that Israel sits at the center of the next 20 years of Western defense procurement. His Israel position is conviction-based, not heritage-based.

What is Anduril Industries?

An American defense technology company founded in 2017 by Palmer Luckey with three Palantir alumni — Trae Stephens, Matt Grimm, Brian Schimpf — and Oculus hardware lead Joseph Chen. Anduril builds autonomous drones, counter-drone systems, sensor towers, undersea vehicles, and command software for the U.S. military and allied governments. Headquartered in Costa Mesa, California.

How much is Anduril worth?

$61 billion, following a $5 billion funding round closed in May 2026 led by Andreessen Horowitz and Thrive Capital (Josh Kushner). One year earlier, the company was valued at $30 billion. 2025 revenue: $2.2 billion. Headcount: approximately 7,000.

Why was Palmer Luckey fired from Facebook?

In September 2016, the Wall Street Journal reported that Luckey had donated $10,000 to Nimble America, a pro-Trump, anti-Hillary Clinton group operating out of the r/The_Donald subreddit. Facebook denied the firing was political, but Luckey was forced into a public apology and was gone within six months. He has stated bluntly in interviews — including on 60 Minutes in May 2025 — that the donation was the cause.

What did Palmer Luckey say about Israel?

Multiple times. At WSJ Tech Live in October 2023, ten days after the October 7 attack: "Israel has my unqualified support." In a 2023 Tablet interview and on the Shawn Ryan Show in February 2025, he identified himself as a "radical Zionist" and argued that the case for a Jewish state for self-defense is unanswerable.

Did Palmer Luckey meet Netanyahu?

Yes. Luckey traveled to Israel in February 2026 on a trip organized by Josh Wolfe of Lux Capital. The schedule included a private meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and an introduction by Israel's Directorate of Defense Research and Development (DDR&D) to ten Israeli defense-tech startups.

Is Anduril doing business in Israel?

Yes. Anduril has signed with ASIO on components for its unmanned aerial systems. It has signaled investment interest in LiteVision, a Kinetica-backed drone-camera startup. As of June 2026, Calcalist reported Anduril is actively interviewing candidates from Elbit Systems and DDR&D to lead an Israeli operation — local hiring, local development, local capital deployment.

Who funds Anduril?

Andreessen Horowitz and Thrive Capital (Josh Kushner) led the May 2026 $5 billion round. Earlier backers include Founders Fund (Peter Thiel), Lux Capital (Josh Wolfe), and 8VC (Joe Lonsdale) — the Palantir-network capital that funds most of the new American defense stack.

What does Anduril make?

Autonomous drones, counter-drone systems, sensor towers, undersea vehicles, and command-and-control software for the U.S. military and allied governments. The company's thesis is that the legacy defense primes — Lockheed, RTX, Northrop, Boeing — are too slow and too dependent on cost-plus contracting to build software-defined hardware at the speed modern conflicts require.

Why does Anduril matter to Israel?

Three reasons. (1) Anduril is one of the only true startup-origin companies to break into the U.S. defense establishment as a primary supplier — meaning Anduril contracts pull Israeli suppliers into the American defense procurement chain. (2) Luckey personally is the most prominent operator-class Zionist in U.S. tech — not a passive backer. (3) Anduril is actively building an in-country Israeli operation: capital, jobs, acquisitions, and a long-term commercial relationship with the IDF.

Where does Palmer Luckey live?

Lido Isle, Newport Beach, California.

Sources and further reading

• Wall Street Journal — 2016 reporting on the Nimble America donation and Facebook's response.
• Tablet Magazine, 2023 — Luckey's first published "radical Zionist" interview.
• Wall Street Journal Tech Live, October 2023 — Luckey's "unqualified support" remarks ten days after October 7.
• Shawn Ryan Show, February 2025 — the long-form podcast where the Zionism position went viral.
• 60 Minutes, May 2025 — confirmation that the Facebook firing was political.
• Forbes, February 2026 — net worth figure ($3.5 billion).
• Calcalist, June 2026 — reporting on the Israel operation hiring and DDR&D introductions.
• Anduril Bets On Israel — Olam's full coverage of the in-country operation.

Related Olam coverage

• Anduril Bets On Israel — Why the $61 billion defense unicorn is setting up local operations.
• Defense — Olam's full coverage of the Israeli and allied defense industry.
• Venture & Exits — Israeli venture capital, growth rounds, and M&A.
• Strategic Technology Trade — U.S.–Israel defense-tech export-control architecture.
• Cyber & National Security — Israeli cyber and national-security technology.

---

Ronn Torossian is the founder and chairman of 5W AI Communications, the AI Communications Firm. He is the publisher of Everything-PR and the author of two best-selling editions of For Immediate Release.