Japanese billionaire breaks Twitter record with cash incentive to followers
The Japanese billionaire set to take SpaceX’s inaugural flight around the moon in 2023 made headlines this weekend for a different reason: He is now the most retweeted person of all time.
On Sunday, Yusaku Maezawa – founder of online retailer Zozotown – promised 100 random Twitter users who reposted one of his messages a chance to win a share of 100 million yen, or about $925,000.
As of Monday morning – the deadline given to follow Maezawa’s account and repost the message – the post had been retweeted on the social media platform more than 5.4 million times.
Maezawa started the promotion after his company is said to have achieved sales of 10 billion yen, or about $92.2 million, over the Christmas and New Year’s holiday period. He now has more than 5.9 million followers.
The entrepreneur said he would contact winners via direct message after the Monday deadline.
This is not Maezawa’s first publicity stunt.
Last year, it was revealed that the 43-year-old would become the first SpaceX passenger to fly around the moon on the Big Falcon Rocket – a mission CEO Elon Musk expects to happen by the year 2023. The Japanese businessman will be among the first people to travel to the moon since the early 1970s.
Maezawa amassed his fortune through the popular shopping site Zozotown. Officially called Start Today, the company offers a made-to-measure service using a bodysuit known as the Zozosuit.
According to Forbes, Maezawa has a net worth valued at $2 billion and was ranked among Japan’s 50 richest people of 2018.