Network School Founder Seeks Meeting With Anwar, Pauses Malaysia Investment After Forest City Raid

Subscribe to our FREE Newsletter, or Telegram and WhatsApp channels for the latest stories and updates.

Network School founder Balaji Srinivasan has requested a meeting with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to negotiate the terms of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between Network School and the Malaysian government following an enforcement operation involving members of the community.

Srinivasan said the meeting would be crucial if Malaysia still wants continued global technology investment, aspires to become a top 20 global technology hub, and remains committed to revitalising Forest City.

He said the proposed MoU would be similar to the agreement recently signed between the Solana Foundation and the Kazakhstan government to facilitate digital asset infrastructure.

Srinivasan previously served as CTO for Coinbase and is also General Partner at a16z before founding Network School in October 2024.

“Specifics can of course be discussed, but we would publicly commit to abiding by all Malaysian laws (we already do) and respecting Malaysia’s sovereignty (never in question).

“In return, they’d get to know our friendly community, and realize that we actually chose Malaysia because we thought it was a great place to build a tech hub where engineers from the global South, investors from the West, and builders from Malaysia itself could meet new people, build cool things, and perhaps create millions of dollars in economic growth in the fullness of time,” he wrote on X.

Srinivasan added that the vision of promoting peace through trade, internationalism and entrepreneurship remains intact.

“We aren’t asking for any money — just a meeting, to help restore confidence in Malaysia as an investable jurisdiction.

“Alternatively, if you don’t want our investment, or those of our colleagues at billion dollar funds and trillion dollar companies, we will of course respect your wishes, and reallocate our capital to other countries instead.

“Either way, we will remain friends and abide by your decision. Please let us know.”

For the time being, Srinivasan announced that Network School and its associates would suspend further investments in Malaysia.

He claimed the group has already invested more than US$100 million, with another US$500 million in potential investments now on hold.

According to Srinivasan, the investments will remain suspended until the group receives sufficient assurances that its members will not be investigated or treated as illegal immigrants.

He added that the investment freeze also extends to the group’s network of technology executives, founders and investors whom they had introduced to Forest City.

Srinivasan was responding to a raid conducted by Malaysian authorities at Network School’s Forest City campus on July 14, following allegations that the community included Israeli nationals who had entered Malaysia using passports issued by their second country of citizenship.

266 individuals inspected, no proof of Israelis present

A total of 266 foreigners from 40 countries were inspected at Forest City, Johor, following scrutiny over Network School’s operations, Berita Harian reported.

Of those, 256 were found to be holding Social Visit Passes, while the remaining 10 possessed Professional Visit Passes (PLIK) under the DE Rantau Nomad Pass. The latter comprised four Americans, three Russians, two Australians and one Indian national.

The operation also involved checks on two Malaysian citizens.

The PLIK (Nomad) Pass is issued by the Immigration Department to foreign digital professionals working remotely while based in Malaysia.

Immigration director-general Datuk Zakaria Shaaban said investigations remain ongoing with different agencies focused on what’s relevant to them.

Zakaria had earlier said that they have yet to verify the allegation that there were Israelis at the Network School who entered Malaysia using a second passport.

READ MORE: Israelis At Forest City? Malaysia Investigates How They May Have Slipped Through

The allegations, raised by Malaysian Protest for Palestine (MP4P), sparked widespread public attention and prompted scrutiny at the Cabinet level.

While describing the enforcement officers as polite and professional, Srinivasan maintained that investigators ultimately found no wrongdoing by members of the community.

“After checking hundreds of physical passports from 40 countries, including dual passport holders, the authorities confirmed to the press on July 15 that all travel documents were in order.

“During the process, we cooperated fully; in the thread below you can see a photo of the men, women, and children of Network School smiling and holding up their passports in the bright daylight. Our faces are shown and our names are known; we have nothing to hide.”

Srinivasan also took aim at MP4P, accusing the group of spreading what he described as false allegations that prompted government agencies to launch the investigation.

Share your thoughts with us via TRP’s Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or Threads.