CONTENTS

Chapters in this book

1. Frontmatter i
2. CONTENTS ix
3. Acknowledgments xi
4. ACT I. SILICON
5. 1. Sophomoric Exploits: Mark Zuckerberg, Facemash and Thefacebook 1
6. 2. Dark Arts: Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Backrub and Google 18
7. 3. You’re Going to Get What’s Coming to You: Keith Rabois, Peter Thiel, and David Sacks, PayPal 35
8. 4. A Self- Fulfilling Prophecy: Travis Kalanick, UberCab 53
9. 5. White Lies: Bill Shockley, Foundation for Research and Education on Eugenics and Dysgenics 70
10. ACT II. GOLD
11. Introduction 89
12. 6. Trust Us: Mark Zuckerberg, Thefacebook and Facebook, Inc. 91
13. 7. Anything It Likes: Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Google, Inc. 113
14. 8. Words Do Matter: Keith Rabois, Peter Thiel, and David Sacks, PayPal and Founders Fund 127
15. 9. Rape with an Engraved Invitation: Travis Kalanick, Uber 152
16. 10. Greed Is Good: J. D. Vance, Mithril Capital and Narya Capital 173
17. ACT III. POWER
18. Introduction 197
19. 11. What Important Truth? Mark Zuckerberg and Peter Thiel, Meta Platforms, Inc. 199
20. 12. There Will Be Blood: Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Alphabet Inc. 219
21. 13. A New Crusade: Peter Thiel, Palantir 239
22. 14. We Do the Right Thing: Dara Khosrowshahi, Uber Technologies, Inc. 261
23. 15. Our Great Symbol of Democracy: J. D. Vance and Peter Thiel, Narya Capital, Rumble, and Clearview AI 283
24. Epilogue 308
25. Notes 325
26. Index 459