Chinese billionaire Jack Ma has accepted an invititation to become a visiting professor at Tokyo College, a new research institute run by the University of Tokyo in Japan.
On Monday, the university announced that Ma will “share his rich experience and pioneering knowledge on entrepreneurship, corporate management and innovation” with students and faculty from May until the end of October.
The 58-year-old Alibaba Group founder is expected to conduct research on sustainable agriculture and food production and hold lectures on management and business start-ups.
Founded in 2019, Tokyo College connects the University of Tokyo with overseas researchers and institutions.
Ma’s visiting professorship at the college is not his first experience as a teacher.
He was reportedly an English teacher for several years before he co-founded Alibaba, a multinational technology company. In May 2019, Ma said he wanted to return to teaching after retiring from Alibaba in September of the same year.
Since 2021, the billionaire has visited research institutes to learn about food production and food-related technology.
In Japan, where he lived for several months, he studied tuna farming due to his interest in the food industry and sustainable agriculture. In Thailand, he studied farming and fishery technologies.
In January, Ma relinquished control of Ant Group, the financial tech company he founded in 2014. His teaching position is the first public role he has assumed since maintaining a low profile after angering the Chinese government for criticizing the nation’s financial-regulation system in 2019.
