{"product_id":"how-to-rule-the-world-an-education-in-power-at-stanford-university","title":"How to Rule the World: An Education in Power at Stanford University","description":"\u003cb\u003eNamed a Most Anticipated Book of 2026 by \u003ci\u003eThe New York Times\u003c\/i\u003e \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"Poignant, maddening, and genuinely hilarious, \u003ci\u003eHow to Rule the World\u003c\/i\u003e is to be devoured--and fast, before Stanford buys up and sets fire to every copy. (Talk about a burn book!)\" --Mark Leibovich, #1 \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e bestselling author of\u003ci\u003e This Town\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eWinner of the George Polk Award for his investigation that brought down Stanford's president, Theo Baker offers a revelatory and gripping account of Silicon Valley hubris \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eSlush funds. Shell companies. Yacht parties. This is life for Silicon Valley's favored teenagers. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eSeventeen-year-old Theo Baker showed up for freshman year at Stanford University as a tech-obsessed coder. It seemed like paradise. There were Rodin sculptures next to nuclear laboratories and inventors lounging with Olympians. But Baker soon discovered a culture that embraced corner-cutting, that vested infinite excess and access in the hands of kids with few safeguards to catch bad behavior. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eStanford, he realized, was less a school than a business. Its annual budget was nearly twice that of Harvard or Yale and higher than those of 116 countries. The product? Students. Especially those special few identified as the next trillion-dollar startup founders. For them, there were secret societies, \"pre-idea\" funding offers, and social calls from billionaires, all with the expectation that these geniuses would soon join the ruling elite. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eAt the helm of this business 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 bearing Tessier-Lavigne's name. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eOnly one month into college and thousands of miles from home, Baker began receiving anonymous letters, going on stakeouts, and tracking down confidential sources. High-powered lawyers and public relations teams were hired to attack his reporting. Stanford opened an investigation into its own leader. And by the end of the year, Tessier-Lavigne was out as president. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThis is the incredible journey of a reluctant teenage reporter who uncovered a story that shook the scientific world and became front-page news across the country. It is also an unprecedented inside view of the students learning to rule the world--and what they're learning from those who already do. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003eHow to Rule the World\u003c\/i\u003e is a shocking, hilarious, and moving debut, showcasing Silicon Valley's training ground as never before.\u003cdiv style=\"display:none\"\u003eISBN-10: 0593832833\u003cbr\u003eISBN-13: 9780593832837\u003cbr\u003eAuthor: Baker, Theo\u003cbr\u003ePublisher: Penguin Press\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Penguin Press","offers":[{"title":"Hardcover (May 2026)","offer_id":46099935035589,"sku":"9780593832837","price":30.4,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0708\/6414\/2533\/files\/9780593832837.jpg?v=1776646898","url":"https:\/\/www.inveni.store\/products\/how-to-rule-the-world-an-education-in-power-at-stanford-university","provider":"Inveni","version":"1.0","type":"link"}