Theo Baker Exposes Silicon Valley’s Grip on Stanford

Stanford University has long sat at the heart of Silicon Valley, linking elite education with venture capital, startup formation and the technology industry’s search for talent. In How to Rule the World, student journalist Theo Baker argues that those ties have turned the campus into an early-stage recruiting ground where access, money and connections can shape academic life and determine which students enter powerful networks.

Penguin Press published the 336-page book on May 19, 2026, with a list price of $32. Baker drew on more than 250 interviews with students, executives, venture capitalists, professors and Stanford leaders. His account describes investors offering some students hundreds of thousands of dollars in “pre-idea” funding — and, in rare cases, millions — while secret seminars, exclusive parties and informal talent scouts reinforce a money-driven campus subculture.