Jamie Beaton

Jamie Beaton was born and raised in Auckland. His parents were property managers.^[2] He attended King's College, Auckland on an academic scholarship.^[1][2][3][4] Beaton graduated with a bachelor's degree and master's degree in applied mathematics from Harvard University in 2016 after three years of study.^[2][5] He also has two degrees from Stanford University and a master's degree in global affairs from Tsinghua University in Beijing.^[6] In 2023, he received his Juris Doctor from Yale Law School.^[7][6][8]

In 2013, Beaton founded Crimson Education, a university and college admission preparation company, 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] Customers of Crimson Education have reported paying thousands of dollars for tutoring services when attempting to gain entry to an Ivy League school.^[1]

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][11] In 2024, the company was valued at $1 billion after a Series D funding.^[12]

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.^[13] In 2018, the University of Auckland filed a suit against a Crimson Education subsidiary, alleging breach of copyright. The suit was eventually settled.^[13]

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.^[13] Beaton had also filed a civil assault claim against the owner of that competitor.^[13] 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".^[13] In May 2022, media reported that the parties reached a confidential settlement.^[14][15]

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][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.^[16][13]

In 2025 Beaton was listed in 112th place on the NBR Rich List, with an estimated net worth of $220 million.