An Indian-American CEO wanted to build a new country in an Asian ghost city, but then an actual country came in the way
Indian-American tech founder Balaji Srinivasan left Silicon Valley to build a new country from scratch, opening his Network School inside Forest City, a $100 billion Chinese-built ghost development in Malaysia's Johor. Two years and hundreds of residents later, local authorities ordered it shut over licensing irregularities, following a separate investigation into Israeli passports on campus. Within hours, the Network State author signed a deal to reopen in Kazakhstan.
Indian-American tech founder Balaji Srinivasan left Silicon Valley to build a new country from scratch, opening his Network School inside Forest City, a $100 billion Chinese-built ghost development in Malaysia's Johor. Two years and hundreds of residents later, local authorities ordered it shut over licensing irregularities, following a separate investigation into Israeli passports on campus. Within hours, the Network State author signed a deal to reopen in Kazakhstan.
