In 1994, a year after he launched what would become the world’s largest English-language tutoring company, the New Oriental Education and Technology Group, Yu Minhong was accosted by thieves outside his Beijing apartment, roughed up and forcibly tranquilized. When the lanky teacher came to, his apartment had been ransacked and he was missing two million RMB in cash (about $150,000 at the time). Years later, after the criminals were apprehended, it was discovered that they were responsible for a spate of violent robberies and had murdered six people. Yu was their only surviving victim.
Fortune has long favored Yu. Through his gargantuan success with New Oriental, which operated some 120 schools across 104 Chinese cities, he became, perhaps, the richest teacher on earth, amassing a net worth of $3 billion. Still, Yu is famously frugal. He drives a nondescript sedan and refrains from extravagant dress; some years ago at a talk, he wore a suit worth 300 RMB, or about $50. “If
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