Objectivist Round-up, mid-July 2026

1. As readers know, Carl Barney and Craig Biddle have been in litigation for a while now. Barney has gone on an internet offensive recently asserting that Biddle stole $9 million from him.

Craig originally drafted an Advisement Agreement that he, Sarah [Biddle], Lenny Esmond (our joint accountant at the time), and I signed. The Agreement required OSI to maintain these funds in a segregated investment account. Use of the funds required my approval; without my approval the “funds may not be used”.

On January 26, 2024, Craig confirmed: “The funds are held in trust by OSI, not grants to OSI”—emphasis added.

In the same exchange, Craig wrote: “They are held in trust and may be used only with Carl’s and Lenny’s permission.”

In January 2026, having become concerned with the Biddles’ behavior, I directed OSI to transfer the trust funds and demanded an accounting. Craig refused. On January 12, 2026, using money from the trust, Craig filed suit to seize the $9 million.

In any event, the episode has caused Barney to rethink his view of human nature.

For much of my life, I believed that people were fundamentally good. I was inclined to trust. I wanted to see the best in others. In many cases, that openness served me well, but that belief carried a cost.

Two long-term and personal relationships ended in profound betrayal. People I trusted personally and financially proved themselves dishonest. Those experiences forced me to reexamine my longstanding assumption. 

I assume Barney is referring to Biddle and Yaron Brook.

2. Ayn Rand Institute President Tal Tsfani talked about the state of Objectivism. A few takeaways:

• The Ayn Rand Institute’s Ayn Rand Center will be breaking ground in Austin this September. The building sounds quite impressive. There will be a fountain at the entrance with a waterfall so that rivers of water and light will flow from the building to the world. Almost sounds like the New Jerusalem in the Book of Revelation (Rev 21-22).
• Tsfany said Objectivism is still in the “pre-movement phase,” which sound like a polite way of saying it doesn’t have anywhere near the number of members one might imagine, particularly if you consider that Atlas Shrugged will be 70 next year.
• The ARI has a new supporter, Ben Chestnut, who has made the biggest contribution ever to the ARI. For whatever reason, the ARI never seems to be lacking at least one large doner.
• The ARI is doing yet another rewrite of its website.
• The Ayn Rand Archives will be made publicly available via the internet without the need to obtain permission. I’ll believe it when I see it.

3. ARI Chief Philosophy Officer Onkar Ghate just published The Moral Idealism of Ayn Rand: From Anthem to Atlas Shrugged.