Malaysia Shuts Down Balaji Srinivasan's Network School — SkimNews
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- Malaysia ordered the shutdown of Network School, a startup-centric community housed in an abandoned hotel, over licensing issues, according to the Wall Street Journal.
- Balaji Srinivasan founded the program on his belief that the US is in "irreversible decline" and pitched it as the first stage of a seven-step plan to build a new society, outlined in his book "The Network State."
- The Wall Street Journal described the program as "part tech incubator, part self-improvement retreat," though attendees reportedly complained about moldy rooms, few women, and a lack of nightlife.
- Srinivasan, who reportedly renounced his US citizenship in 2023, declared himself "a proud Singaporean" on X after WSJ reached out, accusing the outlet of preparing a "hit piece" portraying him as "an odd duck."
- Srinivasan has already announced a new campus agreement in Kazakhstan, suggesting the Network State project will continue elsewhere despite the Malaysian setback.
Why it matters: The shutdown is a concrete regulatory blow to Srinivasan's 'Network State' experiment, which enrolled paying members to build a sovereign digital community from an abandoned Malaysian hotel. His announced pivot to Kazakhstan reveals geographic arbitrage is baked into the thesis: relocate the project wherever local rules permit.
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