How did Robert Nozick move from socialism to libertarianism?

During his youth, Robert Nozick was an active member of the New Left and a committed socialist, even helping to establish a campus branch of the League for Industrial Democracy while at Columbia University.1

His transition toward libertarianism began during graduate school, where he engaged with the works of prominent libertarian thinkers such as F.A. Hayek and Ludwig von Mises. This intellectual shift culminated in his 1974 book, Anarchy, State, and Utopia. In this work, Nozick argued that state-mandated patterns of wealth distribution—such as those proposed by his colleague John Rawls—inevitably require unjust intrusions into individual liberty.12

Nozick proposed an "entitlement theory of justice," asserting that any distribution of holdings is just if it arises from legitimate means, such as voluntary exchange. He famously argued that maintaining patterned distributions would require the state to "forbid capitalist acts between consenting adults," ultimately advocating for a "minimal state" as a framework that protects individual freedom.2