Media Lab’s Storied History of Courting the Rich and Powerful

How a tight-knit group of elites shaped the Media Lab

Nicholas Negroponte, founder and chairman emeritus of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Media Lab. Photo: Pier Marco Tacca/Getty Images

This is a story about courting money from power. It’s about how the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Media Lab was founded and funded, by whom, and how. It’s a story about Nicholas Negroponte before it was about Joi Ito and Jeffrey Epstein. And most of all, it’s a…