Private tutors working for the super-rich can earn up to £180,000 a year, but the job comes with unique challenges, including dealing with students who threaten them with antique revolvers. Nathaniel Hannan, a tutor for ultra-wealthy families, once had to disarm a pupil who pointed a Colt six-shooter at him during a Latin lesson in New York. The boy’s father merely shrugged and offered ‘combat pay’, with no repercussions for the child.
Hannan, who works for Oxford-based Tutors International, says such extreme behaviour is rare in his experience. However, the company’s founder, Adam Caller, reports incidents of self-harm, child abandonment, and knife threats. In one case, a tutor had to be secretly removed from a placement in the western US after a boy pulled a knife on her, with police escorting her to a plane while the father was at a bakery.
Demand for elite tutors is rising, particularly in Asia, with top salaries reaching $250,000 (£180,000) a year. Tutors are now expected to be fluent in multiple languages, teach up to 15 GCSEs, and address learning difficulties or mental health issues. Some roles also involve acting as a personal assistant, such as overseeing the rebuilding of a Florida home damaged by Hurricane Irma.
Caller notes that the wealth itself can be problematic, with some families ‘not working very well because they’re so rich’. Despite the high pay, tutors must navigate complex family dynamics and sometimes dangerous situations, making the job far from straightforward.
