Johor revokes Network School’s Forest City license as Kazakhstan campus planned

Johor has revoked the business license of NSO Malaysia Sdn. Bhd., the company behind Balaji Srinivasan’s Network School in Forest City, with the shutdown order taking effect on July 22 after authorities reviewed inspection reports, enforcement findings and the company’s representations. The Malaysian dispute now extends beyond the licensing action, with Johor Chief Minister Onn Hafiz Ghazi calling for continued federal scrutiny over possible immigration breaches, even though immigration officials previously said all 266 foreign residents inspected at the site held valid travel documents. Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation also said it would act to revoke NSO Malaysia’s Malaysia Digital status because companies holding that designation must maintain required licenses and comply with regulations. As pressure mounts in Malaysia, Srinivasan said on July 21 that Network School had signed a memorandum of understanding with Kazakhstan covering education, artificial intelligence, startups, research and international technology events, and that the planned campus would offer expedited visas, streamlined redomiciliation and active recruitment of global talent. The move gives the project a potential new operating base as Srinivasan continues to contest the scale of the alleged breaches and keeps a planned $122 million expansion in Malaysia on hold pending greater legal certainty.