Phoebe Gates attended secretive Stanford course on power structures

Phoebe Gates, daughter of billionaire Bill Gates, reportedly attended a secretive, invitation-only course at Stanford University titled “So You Think You Can Rule the World?” The program, nicknamed “Rule,” was taught by Silicon Valley investor Justin Lewis-Weber and limited to 12 hand-picked students.

Former students described the course as a way to learn how to “hack any kind of power structure or bureaucratic structure” by identifying vulnerabilities and loopholes within institutional systems. The class was not publicly advertised and required a referral and an intense interview process to join.

These details have resurfaced amid recent scrutiny of Gates’s shopping startup, Phia, which is facing allegations regarding controversial affiliate marketing practices known as “cookie stuffing.” While the course focused on navigating and exploiting power frameworks, there is no direct evidence linking the Stanford program to the current business allegations facing Phia.