Most of Stanford's 2026 graduates are smart, ambitious, and poised for great careers. Theo Baker already has it. During his first semester at the university, Baker published an article that led to the resignation of Stanford University President Marc Tessier-Lavigne. For his work, Baker received one of journalism's highest honors, the George Polk Award. Warner Bros. and producer Amy Pascal optioned the rights to the story. And on Tuesday, less than a month before graduation, Baker will publish “How to Rule the World,'' a detailed account of his time at Stanford and its often shady relationship with the venture capital industry. Judging by the early interest, it has a good chance of becoming a bestseller.
We expected this (we shared some related thoughts on this just a few weeks ago). We spoke with Baker last Friday. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
You entered Stanford University as a programmer. How did he end up breaking one of the biggest stories in the university's history before his freshman year was over?
I arrived thinking that technology and entrepreneurship was the path for me. I participated in a student hackathon, Tree Hacks, helped organize it, and even skipped a CS weeding class. But my grandfather, to whom I was very close, had passed away a few weeks before I arrived, and he had talked to me more about working on the student newspaper than anyone I had ever known. So I joined the student newspaper to feel a connection with him. It was supposed to be a hobby and a way to meet people and explore campus.
Things quickly escalated from there. My first few stories resonated better than I expected, and tips started pouring in, one of which directed me to a pseudonymous website called PubPeer, where scientists analyze published research. He was 7 years old at the time, and some comments made him wonder if the paper, co-authored by Stanford University President Marc Tessier-Lavigne, contained duplicated, stitched, or otherwise irregular images. The investigation began a month after I arrived at Stanford, and by the time I returned for my sophomore year, the president had resigned.
Have you been warned to stop talking about this?
Many times before publishing the first article. People warned me that Tessier Lavigne was a man of great integrity and a great reputation. I warned them that I didn't want to do that and that it would put me in a very uncomfortable position within the facility. Of course, it wasn't a mistake. Over the next 10 months, the backlash grew more intense as the story spread. Within 24 hours of my initial story, the board announced its own investigation. I soon learned that one of the members of the board that oversees it had invested $18 million in Denali Therapeutics, a biotech company co-founded by Tessier Lavigne. And in a statement announcing the investigation, it praised his “integrity and honor” in an investigation that theoretically examined his scientific integrity. The investigation itself became the subject of media coverage. Tessier-Lavigne never directly responded to a request for comment during my freshman year. Eventually, he began sending letters to all faculty members, including all of my professors, describing my reporting as “breathtakingly outrageous and full of falsehoods.” And I started hearing more from his lawyer.
But this book is actually about something much broader, something called the Stanford of Stanfords. What does that mean?
As soon as I arrived, I realized there was this parallel reality, an internal world, where kids who were identified early on as the founders of the next multi-trillion dollar startups were plucked from the crowd and thrown into a world of access and resources. Yacht parties, slush funds, everyone emailing the same millionaire for advice on the weekends. As Stanford University gains fame as a home for great startups, some university officials say it's becoming increasingly difficult to find real talent. So many people come in thinking they can be the next billion dollar drop, that there is a whole system of police officers whose job it is to separate the so-called “entrepreneurs” — the people who do it because it looks good — from the so-called builders who actually have the potential. This is a system designed to find teenagers who can make money as quickly as possible.
It turns out that the title of this book is more than just a metaphor.
No, it's literally the name of a so-called secret class at Stanford University taught by Silicon Valley CEOs. It's not really a class. It's like Skull and Bones for the ambitious tech elite. Although people do not receive course credit, lectures, discussions, and guest speakers are held once a week during the winter term on campus. When I arrived, just knowing it existed was a status symbol. As one person told me, it made you “closer to the rules.” The students in my class told me that what this guy, Justin, was trying to do was what everyone seemed to be trying to do: go in and network with teenagers who could be of use to you as a young person. Only he found a way to hide in this mystery and draw talented and promising children to him. Because he had promised them a way to rule the world. He promised that the brightest students at Stanford University would gather in this 12-person seminar and that the only way they would learn these secrets was through him. This is a very painful example of how this system of talent extraction has manifested itself in strange ways.
How does the human resource discovery system actually work in the field?
Some VCs employ Stanford University seniors to identify new students as soon as they arrive on campus. It's intentionally kept vague. I've been told that joining a big entrepreneurship club is a bad sign. Because it looks like you're doing it for the title, as opposed to being part of a secret feeder group of true architects. But while there are real talents among the children of this world, the main qualification is who you know – whether you are tapped on the shoulder or not. When I was a new student, there was a CEO who coldly emailed me and said he wanted to get to know me. The first time we went for dinner, we went to the Rosewood Hotel. As he sat there spoon-feeding his eight-month-old caviar, he casually mentioned that his first contract was with Muammar Gaddafi. I think its casualness is its charm. And this whole system goes a long way in explaining how large-scale fraud develops. It starts with placing enormous amounts of authority, money, and power in the hands of teenagers without proper safeguards if things go wrong.
You arrived just as the FTX collapse happened and ChatGPT was launched. What was it like observing it up close?
The timing was almost absurd. We have arrived at the tail end of the cryptocurrency boom. The premise when we emerged was that cryptocurrencies were a way to build wealth. SBF will begin its descent on November 2nd. ChatGPT will be released on November 30th. And soon everything changes direction. I remember attending a dinner right after ChatGPT was released and sitting with one of the biggest crypto boosters on campus. I remember him saying that SBF was “the right direction” (there was that word), but everyone was trying to figure out a way around the legality. And many of those same people quickly realized that AI was the new bandwagon they could jump on. They said that with the latest new ones, you can reach the same height as SBF, preferably without falling. Silicon Valley operates on cycles, and its sheer scale makes it especially fascinating to observe up close.
Do you think your colleagues are leaning toward entrepreneurship partly because of concerns about the job market?
absolutely. The AI rush has made talent a resource for discovery in the modern gold rush. While the most valuable researchers and founders are more valuable than ever, entry-level positions are starting to disappear. There is a common belief among people in this world that it is easier to raise money for a startup than to get an internship right now. Which ones are worth paying attention to? Entrepreneurship has become an expected path, rather than the substandard, outsider-like thing it was once associated with. It completely changes its nature.
What is one piece of advice you would give to a 17-year-old looking to get into Stanford or another top university today?
We need to be conscious of whether we are doing what we are doing because we believe in it, because it is the right thing to do, or because it is easy. It's very easy to get overwhelmed by the vortex of trends and technology, or get wasted in a job you don't actually want because you've followed a predictable path. Following the expected path is much less interesting than going out and doing something for yourself. I admire the best founders that have come out of this place. Because they feel truly empowered to make a difference. The only thing you have to be careful about is that you're doing it for the right reasons, not just because you want to get rich.
You came here thinking you could be a founder. Still want to start something?
To be honest, I didn't think much about it. Surprisingly, it was only about a month away from finishing the book and heading towards graduation, so it was a mad dash. But I think you can see in this book that I was really into journalism. It's more of a temperament, almost a problem, than a career. No matter what you do, it will intersect with it.
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