Chris Whittle Seeks Global Reach in Private School Venture

Christopher Whittle recently opened Avenues: The World School, the first in a network of elite, for-profit private schools he plans to build around the world.

—Frank Franklin II/AP-File

Edison co-founder launches bilingual school

By Amanda M. Fairbanks

New York

Christopher Whittle could finally breathe a sigh of relief.

In February of last year, Mr. Whittle stood before a packed house of parents in Lower Manhattan's Crosby Street Hotel. Ever the salesman, he was talking up his vision for a new private school—an idea, really—that had yet to begin construction and was still far from completion.

He had spent the prior months on tenterhooks. Even for the veteran entrepreneur, one who had already raised $75 million from two private-equity firms, there was still the acute possibility of failure. It was conceivable that his latest gamble simply wouldn't resonate with tuition-paying parents—or worse, that no one...