Business · 2
Before founding his e-commerce empire, Jack Ma worked in a job earning roughly $12 a month — what was that job?
Answer
English teacher
After struggling to find work, Jack Ma taught English at a local university in Hangzhou for a modest monthly salary before he founded Alibaba.
💡 Did you know?
Alibaba's Jack Ma was rejected by Harvard 10 times and worked as an English teacher earning $12/month before founding his empire.
Other options people guess
- Factory line worker
- Delivery driver
- Bank clerk
Topics
- e-commerce
- alibaba
- jack-ma
- biography
Know your business trivia?
Play a free Business quiz and see how many you get right — no signup needed to start.
More Business facts
Business
Which e-commerce company did Jack Ma go on to found after being rejected by Harvard multiple times and working as a low-paid English teacher?
Alibaba's Jack Ma was rejected by Harvard 10 times and worked as an English teacher earning $12/month before founding his empire.
Business
Which company was founded by Jeff Bezos in 1994 as an online bookstore?
Amazon's original name was 'Cadabra,' but Bezos changed it because the name sounded too much like 'cadaver,' fearing customer mishearing.
Business
Who is the founder of Amazon?
Bezos named Amazon after the world's largest river, reflecting his ambition to make the company the 'everything store.'
Business
Which company rejected an offer to buy Netflix in 2000, a decision widely cited as one of the costliest in business history?
Blockbuster had a chance to buy Netflix for $50 million in 2000 but rejected it. Netflix is now worth over $150 billion.
Business
Before pivoting to create Slack, Stewart Butterfield's team was originally building what type of product?
Slack was born as an internal messaging tool for a failed cryptocurrency startup. The founders pivoted, and Slack became a $27 billion company.
Business
Which entrepreneur transformed a small California burger stand he purchased in 1954 into the McDonald's global franchise empire?
Ray Kroc didn't invent McDonald's—he bought a small San Bernardino burger stand in 1954 and turned it into a $200 billion empire by obsessing over systems, not food.