Malaysia Orders Shutdown of Balaji Srinivasan’s ‘Network School’ Amid Licensing Issues

Malaysia’s government has ordered the closure of the Network School, a community for techno-optimists founded by entrepreneur and investor Balaji Srinivasan, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal. The shutdown, attributed to licensing problems, ends the school’s operations in an abandoned Malaysian hotel.

Srinivasan, who renounced his U.S. citizenship in 2023 and now says he is a Singaporean, conceived the Network School as the first step in a seven-stage plan to build a new society, as outlined in his book “The Network State.” The program was described as “part tech incubator, part self-improvement retreat,” but some attendees complained about moldy rooms, a lack of women, and limited nightlife.

After receiving questions from the Journal, Srinivasan said on X that the newspaper was preparing a “hit piece” that would make him look like “an odd duck” instead of an early adopter. Despite the setback in Malaysia, he recently announced a new campus agreement in Kazakhstan.

TechCrunch has reached out to Srinivasan for comment.