- Jack Ma is the founder of e-commerce giant Alibaba and is recognized as the richest man in China.
- But did you know that in the past, no one wanted to hire him?
- Discover the story behind Jack Ma below
How does one man go from being unemployed to raking in almost $25 billion in just one day? This is the inspirational story of Jack Ma, an entrepreneur and self-made billionaire who today is China’s richest man with an estimated net worth of $48.3 billion.
Jack Ma’s story is the true definition of rags to riches. Contrary to most people’s assumptions, he wasn’t born with a silver spoon in his mouth.
Jack Ma was born on September 10, 1964, in the Hangzhou Province to a poor family who was suffering from the aftermath of the cultural revolution in China.
When he was young, he used to guide tourists for free in order to learn English. Although he earned no money for this arduous task, it helped him improve his communication skills. In an interview, he was quoted as saying:
“Every morning for five years, I showed them around as a free guide and they taught me English.”
Due to his humble beginnings, he sees education as the light at the end of the tunnel. Ever since he was young, Jack Ma believed in the utmost importance of enlightening one’s self. In spite of his fervent willingness to learn, he was rejected by three universities.
He tried to apply for acceptance at the prestigious Harvard University for 10 times but was rejected every single time.
“For three years, I tried to fit in a university, so I’ve applied jobs for thirty times and got rejected. I went to, even the KFC. Twenty-four people went for the job, twenty-three people accepted, I was the only one guy. “
When it seemed like all doors were closed for him, Jack Ma got accepted into a teacher’s college where he was being paid a meager income of $10 a month. It was during this period when he got the inspiration to start an online marketplace which would revolutionize the e-commerce market in China and, subsequently, the entire world.
Jack Ma explained:
“Nobody believed that I could be successful because everybody said ‘Well this guy thinks differently, thinks crazily.’ I am going to do something called ‘internet’.”“They said ‘This is stupid idea, right? We have never heard about the internet and you know nothing about computer.'”
Jack Ma founded his first business by himself. Unfortunately, he eventually went bankrupt. Instead of giving up, he convinced 17 of his friends to invest a staggering amount of$60,000 each.
Today, his vision and investment proved to be worth it because his company Alibaba is now the leading e-commerce company in the world. To put it in perspective, Alibaba is worth more than Facebook! Alibaba also reportedly processes more goods than E-bay and Amazonon a daily basis.
Jack Ma said:
“I just wanted to find a job, because I could not find a good job, so I’ll do myself.”
It took perseverance and a positive outlook for Jack to be in the position that he is in today. In the past, he was the one seeking out jobs but today, Jack Ma provides jobs for thousands of people. Indeed, he is truly an inspiration to everyone out there!
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