07/04/2026
He got rejected from KFC. He got rejected from Harvard. He got rejected by the police force. Then he built one of the largest companies in human history. 🚫🔥💰🧠 Jack Ma was born September 10, 1964, in Hangzhou, China, to a family of modest means. He failed his university entrance exam twice before finally being admitted on his third attempt. He earned a bachelor’s degree in English from Hangzhou Normal University in 1988 and spent years teaching English for roughly $12 a month. After 30 job rejections, he discovered the internet on a trip to the U.S. in 1995, came home with nothing but an idea, and co-founded Alibaba in his apartment in 1999 with 18 friends. Alibaba’s 2014 NYSE IPO raised $25 billion — the largest in U.S. history at the time. His net worth today is approximately $27.5 billion. But before any of that, there was this: “I applied for Harvard, ten times rejected. KFC, when KFC came to China, 24 people went for the job. 23 people accepted. I was the only guy. And we went for police, five people, four of them accepted. I was the only guy.” One out of 24 at KFC. One out of five at the police department. Ten letters to Harvard — ten rejections. Not one of those doors opened. Every single gatekeeper looked at Jack Ma and said: not this one. He went on to build a company bigger than eBay and Amazon combined. Rejection doesn’t know what it’s doing. It’s not a verdict. It’s just a closed door — and it can’t tell you which one is going to open next. 👉 ary DM for credit requests — no copyright intended. All rights belong to their respective owners.
