Jack Ma was born as Ma Yun in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China on September 10, 1964.^[14] He began studying English at a young age by conversing with English-speakers at Hangzhou International Hotel. Jack Ma's grandfather served as a security guard during the Second Sino-Japanese War. At the age of 12, Jack Ma bought a pocket radio, and since then he listened to English radio every day and became interested in English. From the age of 13, Jack Ma was forced to transfer to Hangzhou No. 8 Middle School because he remembered too many fights. After that in 1982, Ma Yun took the college entrance examination for the first time and fell off the list for the first time. He only got 1 point in mathematics. Ma Yun was full of frustration. Afterwards, he and his cousin went to a hotel to apply for a waiter job. As a result, his cousin was hired and he was rejected. The reason given by the boss was that Ma Yun was thin and short and had a bad appearance. Later, Jack Ma worked as a secretary and porter. Ma Yun failed the college entrance examination, and his father, Malay Fa, saw that he was depressed, and asked him to send books to the magazine in three rounds.^[15]

It took two years for him to enter an extremely ordinary high school, and he only got 31 points in mathematics. For nine years, Ma would ride 27 km (17 miles) on his bicycle to give tourists tours of the area to practice his English. He became pen pals with one of those foreigners, who nicknamed him "Jack" because he found it hard to pronounce his Chinese name.^[16]

In 1983, Ma Yun took the college entrance examination for the second time, and again fell off the list, and his mathematics improved to 19 points. Ma Yun's parents persuaded him to give up his desire to go to college and learn his craft. After that, Ma Yun began to ride the worn-out bicycle through the streets and alleys of Hangzhou.^[17]

In 1984, despite the strong opposition of his family, Ma Yun took the college entrance examination for the third time. This time, he scored 89 points in the mathematics test, but the total separation of undergraduates was still 5 points away. Since the enrollment target for English majors is not met, some excellent English students have the opportunity to be promoted. Ma Yun was promoted to the undergraduate foreign language major by Hangzhou Normal University. After entering the university, Jack Ma became a good student with excellent academic performance, and was ranked in the top five of the foreign language department with his excellent English. After that, Jack Ma was elected as the chairman of the student union, and later served as the chairman of the Hangzhou Federation of Students for two terms.^[18]

Later in his youth, Ma struggled attending college. Ma failed the entrance exam for the Hangzhou Teachers College twice as his weak point was mathematics.^[14] The Chinese entrance exams, held annually, took Ma three years to pass. Ma attended Hangzhou Teacher's Institute (currently known as Hangzhou Normal University) and graduated in 1988 with a Bachelor of Arts in English.^[19][20] While at school, Ma was head of the student council.^[21] After graduation, he became a lecturer in English and international trade at Hangzhou Dianzi University. He also claims to have applied ten times to Harvard Business School and been rejected each time.^[22]