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Jamie Beaton (born 1995/1996) is a New Zealand entrepreneur who founded an education mentoring enterprise, Crimson Education, at age 17. In 2016, the enterprise was valued at over NZ$75 million, with Beaton owning just under half of its shares. In the same year, at age 20, he graduated from Harvard University with a master's degree in applied mathematics. In 2022, a venture capital fund valued Crimson Education at US$550 million.
Jamie Beaton was born and raised in Auckland, where his parents were property managers. Beaton's mother separated from his father during her pregnancy, and, subsequently, Beaton was raised without his father's involvement; later, both parents remarried.[2] He attended King's College on an academic scholarship.[2][1] Beaton joined a society, Young Mensa, and became its national coordinator.[2]
According to Beaton, he then applied to 25 of the top universities in the world and received an offer from each.[3][4] Beaton went on to study and complete six degrees, including a bachelor's degree and master's degree in applied mathematics from Harvard University, which took three years rather than the customary five years, and graduated in 2016.[2][5] He also earned two degrees from Stanford University and received a master's degree in global affairs from Tsinghua University in Beijing.[6] In 2023, he received his Juris Doctorate from Yale Law School.[7][6] [8]
In 2013, Beaton founded Crimson Education, a company that helps to prepare students for admission to prestigious universities, with Fangzhou Jiang and Sharndre Kushor.[7][6][9][10] The business attracted investments of approximately NZ$1.4 million. Hedge fund managers Julian Robertson and Chase Coleman, as well as Alex Robertson and Soichiro Fukutake were the primary initial investors.[1] As of 2016, the enterprise was valued at over NZ$75 million with Beaton being the largest shareholder.[1] Crimson Education is mostly branded on Beaton, using him as a role model to prospective applicants to prestigious universities.[1] Customers of Crimson Education have reported paying thousands of dollars for tutoring services when attempting to gain entry to an Ivy League school.[1]
In 2021, former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd joined the advisory board of the business.[11] As of 2022[update], the business had 630 full-time staff and more than 3,000 tutors and mentors.[6] In the same year a capital raise by a venture capital fund valued the company at US$550 million.[7][12] In 2024, the company was valued at $1 billion after a Series D funding.[13]
Lawsuits
In 2017, Crimson Education was involved in a breach of contract litigation with a former employee. The matter was eventually subject to a confidential settlement.[14] In 2018, the University of Auckland filed a suit against a Crimson Education subsidiary, alleging breach of copyright. The suit was eventually settled.[14]
In January 2021 it was reported that a $10-million High Court lawsuit had been filed by a competitor of Crimson involving allegations of employee poaching.[14] Beaton had also filed a civil assault claim against the owner of that competitor.[14] Crimson Education chose not to comment on the assault claim filed by Beaton. Crimson stated it was not unusual for companies like Crimson to "experience some commercial litigation".[14] In May 2022, media reported that the parties reached a confidential settlement.[15][16]
Beaton was in a relationship with Crimson Education co-founder Sharndre Kushor. Beaton and Kushor met during their secondary education at a Model United Nations conference.[2] Together, they went on to represent New Zealand's model United Nations youth delegation in The Hague.[2][4] As of 2022[update] they were no longer in a relationship.[7]
Beaton sat on the review panel of the centre-right New Zealand National Party election campaign after the party lost the 2020 election.[17][14]
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