The Orlovs were rewarded after Catherine's accession, and Alexei was promoted to the rank of major-general, and given the title of count. He and his brother received 50,000 roubles and 800 serfs. Despite a lack of formal education and his ignorance of foreign languages, he maintained an interest in science, patronizing Mikhail Lomonosov and Denis Fonvizin, and corresponding with Jean Jacques Rousseau. He was one of the founders of the Free Economic Society and its first elected chairman. Rewarded with large estates, he took an interest in horse breeding, developing the Orlov Trotter, and popularising the breed of chicken now known as the Orloff.