A secretive Stanford course known as Rule has drawn fresh attention after the New York Post reported that Phoebe Gates, daughter of Bill Gates, is one of its alumni. The class has no course code, is not available through Stanford’s registration system, and admits only 12 students each year during the winter quarter, with six spots for men and six for women. According to the source material, the only way in is through a referral from a former student.
The course is formally titled So You Think You Can Rule the World? Students quoted in the reports described it as a class about understanding and using the “deep incentive structures” that support how the world operates.
Phoebe Gates link pushed the course into wider view
The New York Post said this week that Phoebe Gates had taken the class and had also used connections built through it to recruit internally for her shopping comparison startup, Phia.
The source article said Gates and Sophia Kianni launched the AI shopping comparison startup Phia in 2025. Earlier this year, Bloomberg reported allegations that the company’s browser extension inserted its own affiliate marketing cookies for users, making orders from other channels appear as if they had been referred by Phia and allowing the startup to claim commissions.
The article also said neither woman has been charged with any crime. Legal experts cited there said a criminal case appeared unlikely, while civil claims were seen as more plausible.
Founded by Justin Lewis-Weber
Rule was created by Justin Lewis-Weber, who continues to teach it. Lewis-Weber graduated from Stanford in 2020 with a major in aeronautics and astronautics.
According to reporting by The Stanford Daily, he founded the class while he was a junior and kept teaching it after graduation while moving between New York and San Francisco. The same report said he also co-founded automated insurance claims company Assured in 2019.
The source article highlighted his background as unusually dramatic: he reportedly built a helicopter at age 6, started an aerial imaging company at 12, and published a peer-reviewed paper on lunar solar panels at 17.
Selection process starts in spring and ends in fall
Getting into the class involves a screening process that The Stanford Daily described as unusually intense. The process starts in the spring of the previous year and does not end until fall.
Interviews are held at Coupa Cafe on campus. Lewis-Weber is said to ask philosophical questions such as, “When you look back on your life at 80, what will have made it worth it?” He then keeps pressing applicants on why they gave each answer.
Applicants are also asked to nominate the most accomplished male and female peers they know, and those names are folded into the evaluation process. According to the report, some students have left interviews in tears.
What the class teaches
The 12 selected students meet once a week at Stanford graduate housing EVGR. Sessions are built around short presentations from students followed by Socratic debate.
One of the central ideas in the class is “multipolar traps,” drawn from Scott Alexander’s well-known essay Meditations on Moloch. The discussion extends to how prisoner’s dilemma dynamics and the tragedy of the commons can lock up collective action.
The course also brings in guest speakers. The source article said Stanford lecturer and professional negotiation expert Stan Christensen has spoken about effective communication, while startup lawyers have discussed practical strategy. One student described the classroom atmosphere as willing to engage with “politically incorrect” conversations and even language that could be considered derogatory.
Students are sharply divided on its value
Supporters described Rule as life-changing. A student identified as Zhou said the class brought together “a group of people willing to dream bigger together.” John Bailey, a 2024 graduate, called the interview process “refreshing” and said people around the class genuinely believed they could change the world. Madison Ueland, who met Bailey through the course, described it as an “awakening” experience.
Critics offered a very different view. A student using the pseudonym Alex told The Stanford Daily that the class was really about learning how to “hack into any kind of power structure or bureaucracy” and get what you want from human systems. Another pseudonymous student, Taylor, said it represented “the more cynical side of Silicon Valley” and argued that Lewis-Weber was focused on “profit and power, not doing good.”
Theo Baker, a member of the class of 2026 who was rejected, described Lewis-Weber in his memoir How to Rule the World as “an extremely self-centered CEO.” The New York Post also quoted another former student saying Lewis-Weber’s startup philosophy was “more hacker-ish, more about clever shortcuts,” with an emphasis on finding loopholes and weak points rather than spending much time on the ethics.
An elite network with long afterlife
The source article said a confidential 12-person course built around referrals is not especially unusual in Silicon Valley, pointing to Peter Thiel’s private gathering Dialog as a comparable model.
The Stanford Daily report said Rule alumni are together said to be worth billions of dollars, and that the network continues after the class ends. Lewis-Weber reportedly hosts alumni gatherings at his home and takes students on long walks to talk through major life decisions. The article also said more than one student couple is said to have met through the class.
The reports stopped short of offering a final judgment. They left open whether Rule is training students to change the world or reproducing existing power structures through a new channel.