Jerome Barty-Taylor, 35, is the owner of a private education company in Hong Kong.
Jerome Barty-Taylor, 35, is the owner of a private education company in Hong Kong.
  • Jerome Barty-Taylor has been a private tutor in Hong Kong for the past decade.
  • He says he's had to learn not to get ruffled by things like extremely expensive gifts.
  • For the ultra-rich, he says, tutoring isn't just about books — it's about maintaining values.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Jerome Barty-Taylor, the 35-year-old British-Australian owner of a private tutoring business based in Hong Kong. This essay has been edited for length and clarity.

When I first landed in Hong Kong in 2013, it was just meant to be a stepping-stone stop for me to save up some money. I didn't have enough money to make it back home to Australia from Oxford.