Jack Ma
Hangzhou Normal University · Alibaba
Rejected From 30 Jobs, Then Built China's Largest Company
28 March 2026
Jack Ma failed his university entrance exam twice before being accepted to Hangzhou Normal University, where he studied English. After graduating, he was rejected from 30 jobs — including KFC, which hired 23 of 24 applicants and rejected only him.
Discovering the Internet
On a trip to the US in 1995, Ma used the internet for the first time and searched for "beer." When no results from China appeared, he saw a massive opportunity: Chinese businesses had no online presence.
18 Friends in an Apartment
Ma founded Alibaba in 1999 with 17 friends and $60,000 in pooled savings, working from his Hangzhou apartment. The platform connected Chinese manufacturers with international buyers — a concept no Western tech company was pursuing.
$200+ Billion Empire
Alibaba went public in 2014 in the largest IPO in history at the time, raising $25 billion. The Alibaba Group grew to include Taobao, Tmall, Alipay (Ant Group), and cloud computing. Ma's story is one of the most remarkable rags-to-riches tales in business history.
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