The Boy Genius Who Killed 14 Million Poor People
On The Next Level yesterday Sarah, Tim, and I talked about this monster Bloomberg profile of Luke Farritor. I cannot recommend it highly enough.
You probably have not heard Farritor’s name before. He is one of Elon Musk’s 23-year-old DOGE bros who helped dismantle key parts of the federal government, including USAID.
The particulars of Farritor’s story are idiosyncratic—he is in almost every way an outlier. Yet the moral component is universal because it presents a simple question: What is the nature of accountability?
His father is a university professor. His mother is a physician. Farritor seems to have been a child prodigy whose talents were recognized, encouraged, and incubated almost from the moment he hit puberty. He was supported by both his well-to-do family, his community, and a number of institutions that exist to identify and elevate gifted children.
In other words: Farritor’s story is not one of a misunderstood genius who had to fight through an uncaring system. Quite the opposite.
