Silicon Valley Billionaires and an Education in Power at Stanford

Theo Baker arrived at The Farm in fall 2022 as an overeager, coding-obsessed freshman but soon realized that Stanford was less a school than a business. At the helm was Marc Tessier-Lavigne, a superstar neuroscientist and wealthy biotech executive. But when Baker joined the student newspaper and started poking around the Stanford president’s record, he discovered never-reported allegations of research misconduct in studies published across two decades. By the end of the year, his reporting had led to the resignation of the university’s president. Drawing from his debut book, How to Rule the World: An Education in Power at Stanford University (May 2026), Baker will tell the story of this investigation and of the system that commodifies education and cultivates future billionaires.

In this gripping event, Baker will be joined by Professor Rob Reich to discuss the symbiosis of Stanford and Silicon Valley and how some aspiring rulers of the universe are taught to cut corners to get ahead.

Please note that this event is in-person only, and RSVPs are requested to attend. Walk-ins are welcome.

Speaker:

📚 Theo Baker is an undergraduate at Stanford University. His reporting led to former Stanford president Marc Tessier-Lavigne’s resignation and made Baker the youngest-ever recipient of the prestigious George Polk Award. His debut book HOW TO RULE THE WORLD will be published by Penguin Press in May 2026. Baker’s other writing has appeared in The Atlantic, New York Magazine, The New York Times, and elsewhere. His reporting has been honored with the Dan Rather Medal for News and Guts, the Investigative Reporters and Editors Award, and the Society of Professional Journalists Mark of Excellence, among other honors. Baker will graduate from Stanford in June 2026.

Discussant:

📚 Rob Reich is McGregor-Girand Professor of Social Ethics of Science and Technology at Stanford University, Professor of Political Science, Director of Ethics, Society, and Technology Initiatives at the Center for Ethics in Society, Co-Director of the Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society, and Associate Director of the Institute for Human-Centered AI. He is the author of System Error: Where Big Tech Went Wrong and How We Can Reboot (with Mehran Sahami and Jeremy M. Weinstein) and Just Giving: Why Philanthropy is Failing Democracy and How It Can Do Better (2018); Digital Technology and Democratic Theory (edited with Lucy Bernholz and Hélène Landemore, 2021). His teaching and writing these days focus on governance of frontier science and technology.

No personal recordings (audio or visual) are allowed. By attending, you consent for your image to be used for Stanford-related promotions and materials. If you have any questions, please contact [email protected].

If you require disability-related accommodation, please contact [email protected] as soon as possible or at least 7 business days in advance of the event.

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