Less than a year after Palantir cofounder Joe Lonsdale’s move to Austin during the pandemic, the venture capitalist got on the phone with the Texas capital’s then-mayor and pitched him on a deal that would transform a key part of the city’s infrastructure—and also happen to benefit one of his investments.
Over that phone call and in subsequent email correspondence, Lonsdale suggested starting small: He and some of his friends would pay for a one-mile, approximately $6 million to $7 million underground tunnel system, built by Elon Musk’s the Boring Company, that would connect his friends’ land around town. He said that the initial mile-long tunnel could spark interest from leadership for a citywide tunnel system that the Boring Company could ultimately build in partnership with the city, and a pitch deck he sent after the call refers to “a growing group of successful citizens” willing to donate or sell land at below-market prices for stations near the airport, Tesla’s Austin gigafactory, the Q2 Stadium, Lonsdale’s house, and his venture capital firm, 8VC.
