Alibaba founder Jack Ma was rejected by Harvard 10 times, and he went on to build one of the largest companies on earth. The story has become entrepreneurial folklore for good reason: it is a masterclass in handling rejection. Here is what actually happened, and what it teaches anyone chasing a big idea.
How Many Times Did Harvard Reject Jack Ma?
Ten times. Harvard University, the institution that accepted tech giants like Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg, knocked back Jack Ma on 10 separate occasions. Ma revealed the figure himself in a 2015 interview with Charlie Rose, the same conversation where he grinned and said he should one day go and teach there. Rose’s reply: “I think that can be arranged.”
Jack Ma’s Full Rejection Record
Harvard was far from the only knockback. By Ma’s own account, he collected rejections for years before Alibaba ever existed:
- Failed middle school exams
- Rejected when he applied to join the police
- The only one of 24 applicants turned away by KFC
- Knocked back from roughly 30 jobs in total
- Rejected by Harvard 10 times
What Jack Ma’s Harvard Rejection Teaches Entrepreneurs
The Jack Ma Harvard story carries a few lessons every young entrepreneur should take to heart. Rejection is simply an inevitable part of the process. Virtually every success story is built on top of failures. What matters is that, like Jack Ma, you pick yourself up and learn from the knockback. Sometimes that means evaluating what you did wrong and tweaking your idea or method. Other times it means sticking to your guns. Knowing the difference between when to listen and when to hold your ground is as valuable as the idea itself.
The story also proves that the institutions we hold in high regard can make big mistakes. Harvard might consider itself the authority on business potential, but it misses a golden egg every now and then. That goes for any institution of authority that expects something from you: your parents, your teachers, even your friends. At some point they will tell you that you are wrong about something. Most of the time they will be right. Every now and then they will not be. Again, the skill is knowing the difference.
For Jack Ma, Harvard became a stepping stone even though he never set foot in a lecture there. That is the whole point: you get rejected, you learn, you grow, and you do not give up. He co-founded Alibaba in 1999 and turned it into one of the biggest companies in the world, which makes the 10 rejections look less like a verdict on his ability and more like a footnote in someone else’s filing cabinet.
Jack Ma’s Setbacks at a Glance
| Setback | Outcome |
|---|---|
| Middle school exams | Failed |
| Police application | Rejected |
| KFC job | Only applicant of 24 turned away |
| Job applications | Around 30 rejections |
| Harvard University | Rejected 10 times |
| Alibaba (founded 1999) | Grew into one of the world’s largest companies |
Jack Ma Harvard FAQs
No. Despite applying 10 times, Jack Ma was never accepted by Harvard. He studied at Hangzhou Normal University in China and worked as an English teacher before co-founding Alibaba in 1999.
Ten times. Jack Ma applied to Harvard on 10 separate occasions and was rejected every time, a figure he shared in a 2015 interview with Charlie Rose.
Jack Ma co-founded Alibaba Group in 1999, the e-commerce company behind Taobao and Tmall. He also founded Ant Group, the fintech firm behind the Alipay payments platform.
The story resonates because Ma turned a long run of rejections into one of the world’s biggest companies. It is widely cited as proof that elite gatekeepers do not set the ceiling on an entrepreneur’s success.
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