Palantir is preparing to file its S-1 ahead of a potential September IPO

* The secretive data analytics firm Palantir is preparing to file an S-1 ahead of a potential September IPO, Business Insider has learned. * The company is working with banks to prepare a tender offer to clean up its cap table, according to Bloomberg. * Earlier this week, Palantir lowered the strike price for employees to buy their options in the company, sources told Business Insider. * Palantir declined to comment. * Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. Secretive data analytics firm Palantir is preparing to file an S-1 with plans to go public in September, according to a person familiar with the company, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak on the matter. The timing could shift pending market conditions. The IPO prep, first reported by Bloomberg, has been long anticipated at the 17-year-old company whose earliest backers include Peter Thiel's Founders Fund and In-Q-Tel, the investment arm of the US intelligence and defense communities. A spokeswoman for Palantir declined to comment. It's unclear which banks are working on the S-1. The company is still debating whether to have a normal public offering or to go public through a direct listing, according to Reuters. Palantir is also working with bankers on a tender offer for private shareholders which would clean up its cap table, according to Bloomberg. Palantir's turn to the public market comes five years after its last funding round, which valued the company at $20 billion. The company, which sells customized data analytics tools to corporations and the government, has struggled to live up to that valuation in recent years, as shares of the company flooded the secondary markets at a major discount. Earlier this week, Palantir adjusted its strike price for employees down from $6.03 to $4.72 per share to lower the cost for employees to buy the options that are part of their compensation, Business Insider reported. Earlier this year, secondary shares of the company regularly sold at a valuation between $8 billion and $12 billion, two investors told Business Insider in February. Around the same time, the secondary-share marketplace EquityZen offered Palantir shares for just $4.85, for an implied valuation of $8.9 billion, according to an offering viewed by Business Insider. SEE ALSO: Palantir lowers strike price for employees to buy equity in the company as discounted shares flood the secondary markets Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: What makes 'Parasite' so shocking is the twist that happens in a 10-minute sequence
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Apple has backed down in its latest developer fight, apologizing to WordPress after it pressured the website-builder to add in-app payments

* Apple has apologized after it tried to force WordPress to add in-app payment options to a free app. * WordPress' founder said on Friday that Apple was refusing to allow any updates to the WordPress iOS app until the website builder added in-app purchases, from which Apple takes a 15-30% commission. * Apple is in a fierce fight with developers including "Fortnite" maker Epic Games and Spotify over its rules on in-app purchases. * Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. Apple has backed down in its latest skirmish with a developer over its App Store rules. The tech giant on Sunday issued a rare apology to WordPress after it pressured the website builder to add payment options to its free iOS app, or else be blocked from updating. "We believe the issue with the WordPress app has been resolved," an Apple spokesman told The Verge. "Since the developer removed the display of their service payment options from the app, it is now a free st...

SpaceX has a 'go' from NASA to return 2 astronauts to Earth on Sunday as Hurricane Isaias threatens several Florida splashdown locations

* NASA on Saturday gave SpaceX a "go" to undock the company's first crewed space mission, called Demo-2, and land it on Sunday evening. * Hurricane Isaias complicated original plans to return two astronauts to Earth aboard SpaceX's Crew Dragon spaceship in the Atlantic Ocean. * Elon Musk's aerospace company may now try to splash down NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley in the Gulf of Mexico. * Two out of seven total landing sites near Florida must have good weather conditions, and NASA has until about 5 p.m. ET on Saturday to call off the undocking. * Should the weather worsen, NASA and SpaceX can try again a day later or some other date over the next two months. * Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. Astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley have a "go" to return to Earth this weekend and wrap up an historic space mission for both NASA and SpaceX. Behnken and Hurley launched to orbit aboard SpaceX's Crew Dragon vehic...

What an independent contractor actually is and how it's classified under California's Assembly Bill 5, the gig worker law Uber, Lyft, and others are fighting with a November ballot measure

* California's Assembly Bill 5 (AB5) went into effect in January, adopting a narrow definition of independent contractor that forces Uber and other gig economy businesses to choose between reclassifying workers as employees or risking significant liability for misclassification. * The law serves as a reminder to California businesses to be careful when classifying workers as contractors. * Classifying independent contractors falls into two main categories: the "right to control" test (often called the "IRS test") and the tougher "ABC test" recently adopted in AB5. * Uber, Lyft, and DoorDash have recently poured $30 million into Proposition 22 — a ballot measure intended to exempt major ridesharing and food delivery companies from AB5. If California residents vote the measure into effect in November, Uber and Lyft can continue classifying drivers as contractors. * Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. In September 2019, Californ...

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