Inside the $440 Million Collapse of Guidepost Montessori (Gift Article)

Gross. This is literally the oldest story in US school. Dumb but slick tech guy wants to start schools--thinks he knows better than anyone with actual experience. Desperate rich adults buy in. Plan blows up. (1/2)

Inside the Outrageous Collapse of a ‘Montessori Ponzi’ www.nytimes.com/2026/09/13/b...

Hey look, the Montessori school that gave my family incredibly bad vibes collapsed because it was basically a real estate Ponzi scheme www.nytimes.com/2026/09/13/b... I had so many fights with the admin of this place, of course it was run by a useless biz guy

When they talk about school choice, this is what they mean. This guy went on to run a $440M Ponzi scheme of Montessori schools. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/13/b...

Inside the Outrageous Collapse of a ‘Montessori Ponzi’ www.nytimes.com/2026/09/13/b...

This whole thing is a cautionary tale about what happens when you take the Silicon Valley "move fast and break things" ethos and apply it to something actually important like--unbelievably--child care. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/13/b...

This crazy story is a who’s who of the worst people you know and have ever heard of and I believe in a just world everyone in charge of this stupid company would have been brought up on charges www.nytimes.com/2026/09/13/b...

Paying for daycare and preschool is terrible in this country but this shit is extra terrible: Guidepost Global partnered with Alpha School and then Alpha School took over Guidepost schools. "Parents were notified of this Montessori-to-A.I. switch just weeks before the start of a new school year."

>He spoke about doing for preschools “what ride-sharing apps or Airbnb have achieved,” and he raised $335 million from investors, including venture capital and private equity firms, to make it happen. Well I think that gives away the entire story

Hard to believe that private equity could fuck up yet another thing, but if you insist: www.nytimes.com/2026/09/13/b...

A year ago I was doing book research when I happened upon all these people on Reddit complaining that their Montessori preschools closed with little notice. So many. All over the country. That’s weird, I thought. I wonder what’s going on. It was this: www.nytimes.com/2026/09/13/b...

Snake oil, incompetence, and hubris-- always a potent mix www.nytimes.com/2026/09/13/b...

Inside the Outrageous Collapse of a ‘Montessori Ponzi’ www.nytimes.com/2026/09/13/b... 🤔 Most people have no idea how well-educated public school teachers are, or how under educated/trained many private school teachers can be.

SCAM Alert: Inside the Outrageous Collapse of a ‘Montessori Ponzi’ #Scammers #Ponzi #Scams #Repost #Scammer #ProgressiveAlliance #DemsUnited #ConGames #Montessori #RT #Alert #Warning #Congame #MontessoriPonzi #SCAM #Progressives #PonziSchemes www.nytimes.com/2026/09/13/b...

The whole piece is really enraging and has some great other details

Early childhood education is not going to make you money (unless you cheat) www.nytimes.com/2026/09/13/b...

Pretty remarkable response to accusations that your school startup is a Ponzi scheme www.nytimes.com/2026/09/13/b...

It's egregious that these people still are opening schools. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/13/b...

Inside the Outrageous Collapse of a ‘Montessori Ponzi’ www.nytimes.com/2026/09/13/b...

Not sure if you saw this, but you’ll never believe who shows up in the middle of this story www.nytimes.com/2026/09/13/b...

Credit where credit is due: although the NYT recounting of the rise and fall of a Ponzi pre-school outfit named Guidepost Montessori, founded by an Ayn Rand cultist named Ray Girn, doesn't dig deep enough into private schools, still, it is good: www.nytimes.com/2026/09/13/b...

Inside the Outrageous Collapse of a ‘Montessori Ponzi’ www.nytimes.com/2026/09/13/b...

Inside the Outrageous Collapse of a ‘Montessori Ponzi’ www.nytimes.com/2026/09/13/b... monetize everything under the sun. what could go wrong.

Nothing says "for-profit ed" quite like grifting on toddlers. Good investigative work by the Times:

Inside the Outrageous Collapse of a ‘Montessori Ponzi’ A man with a vision set out to revolutionize preschool. It became a $440 million fiasco.

You had me at "Ayn Rand Club." www.nytimes.com/2026/09/13/b...

As soon as I read "Ayn Rand Institute" and "no formal training in education," I immediately thought crackpot libertarian experiment (scam). www.nytimes.com/2026/09/13/b...

Schools should not be for profit and they should be run by professional educators - Example 1 million! www.nytimes.com/2026/09/13/b...

Inside the Outrageous Collapse of a ‘Montessori Ponzi’ www.nytimes.com/2026/09/13/b...

www.nytimes.com/2026/09/13/b... Wow. Incredible article. Kudos to Suddath. Rand rears her ass again.

Why did private equity and venture capital firms invest in what was clearly a BS business model (child care is expensive to provide no matter how delusionally confident the owner is)? Do they make enough short term money on bubbly investments that they don’t care?

Ponzi scheme Explore this gift article from The New York Times. You can read it for free without a subscription. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/13/b...

"Mr. Girn is still active in the education industry." www.nytimes.com/2026/09/13/b...

www.nytimes.com/2026/09/13/b...

This entire story is insane. I cannot believe the things this guy went on the record with. Hopefully they can be used in his prosecution. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/13/b...

The Outrageous Collapse of a 'Montessori Ponzi' comments · posted on 2026.09.13 at 17:07:17 (c=2, p=6)

A man with a for-profit vision set out to revolutionize preschool. It became a $440 million fiasco. [It is a NYT “gift article” — not behind a paywall.] www.nytimes.com/2026/09/13/b...

Explore this gift article from The New York Times. You can read it for free without a subscription. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/13/b...

Too many quotes to pull from this NYT story about an Ayn Rand loving private school grifter...who is still operating schools in Texas, but his wife telling him "we're not apologizing" in front of the reporter is next-level. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/13/b...

Inside the Outrageous Collapse of a ‘Montessori Ponzi’ A man with a vision set out to revolutionize preschool with a chain of for-profit schools under the brand Guidepost Montessori. It became a $440 million fiasco. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/13/b...

www.nytimes.com/2026/09/13/b...

Inside the Outrageous Collapse of a ‘Montessori Ponzi’ (gift link) www.nytimes.com/2026/09/13/b...

Inside the Outrageous Collapse of a ‘Montessori Ponzi’ www.nytimes.com/2026/09/13/b...

The Outrageous Collapse of a 'Montessori Ponzi' Discussion

Inside the Outrageous Collapse of a ‘Montessori Ponzi’ www.nytimes.com/2026/09/13/b...

www.nytimes.com/2026/09/13/b...

[NYT] INSIDE THE $440 MILLION COLLAPSE OF GUIDEPOST MONTESSORI

Inside the Outrageous Collapse of a ‘Montessori Ponzi’ www.nytimes.com/2026/09/13/b...

Inside the Outrageous Collapse of a ‘Montessori Ponzi’ www.nytimes.com/2026/09/13/b... This is America

Not clear to me why this couple is not in prison. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/13/b...