How high demand for a tutor made this maths teacher in China a billionaire

It’s all adding up for Liu Yachao.

The chief operating officer of TAL Education Group, a Beijing-based provider of tutoring services for Chinese students in core academic subjects, became the company’s second billionaire as its stock more than doubled in the past year.

Chinese parents are spending an average of $42,892 each year on their children’s education, with 93 percent of them paying for private tuition, according to a report last year from HSBC Holdings Plc. That demand has driven TAL’s market value to $21.1 billion, about 46 percent more than its main competitor, New Oriental Education & Technology Group