Discover the explosive inside story of Silicon Valley’s elite training ground in How to Rule the World: An Education in Power at Stanford University by Theo Baker — the shocking, hilarious, and propulsive debut memoir from the youngest-ever George Polk Award winner.
At seventeen, tech-obsessed coder Theo Baker arrived at Stanford University as a bright-eyed freshman dreaming of changing the world through Silicon Valley. What he found instead was a surreal world of excess: yacht parties, slush funds, shell companies, secretive power networks, and jaw-dropping wealth handed to teenagers — all while a culture of corner-cutting and hubris permeated the campus. As a reluctant student journalist, Baker followed a tip that led to one of the biggest scandals in higher education: exposing research misconduct by Stanford’s president, Marc Tessier-Lavigne. His reporting rocked the scientific world, made national headlines, and ultimately forced the president’s resignation.
Blending memoir, investigative thriller, and biting exposé, this gripping 336-page account pulls back the curtain on Stanford as the epicenter of tech ambition, influence, and moral ambiguity — the place where tomorrow’s rulers are being groomed today. Baker’s fearless reporting (250+ interviews and three years in the making) delivers a portrait compared to Michael Lewis’s Liar’s Poker and All the President’s Men, revealing how power, money, and ambition collide in America’s most influential university.
Perfect for fans of campus scandals, Silicon Valley exposés, true crime journalism, and insider memoirs like Billion Dollar Loser or The Social Network. Whether you’re fascinated by Big Tech culture, higher education, or the hidden networks shaping our future, this timely Penguin Press hardcover is essential reading.
