James Delahunty
7 Jan 2019 12:35
A Japanese billionaire has broken the retweet record on Twitter after pledging to give away money.
ZOZOTOWN新春セールが史上最速で取扱高100億円を先ほど突破！！日頃の感謝を込め、僕個人から100名様に100万円【総額1億円のお年玉】を現金でプレゼントします。応募方法は、僕をフォローいただいた上、このツイートをRTするだけ。受付は1/7まで。当選者には僕から直接DMします！ #月に行くならお年玉 pic.twitter.com/cKQfPPbOI3
Yusaku Maezawa - who has an estimated net worth of $3.6 billion - tweeted on January 5th a pledge to share 100 million yen ($925,000) between 100 randomly selected people. In order to be in with a chance of getting a share of the cash, Twitter users have to follow his account and retweet.
The tweet was made in celebration of his website, Zozotown, reaching 10 billion yen in sales over the holiday period.
At the time of writing, the tweet has been retweeted more than 5.5 million times. The previous record was held by a teenager who asked for retweets to win a year of free chicken nuggets from Wendy's. The number of retweets reached over 3.5 million. Prior to that, Ellen Degeneres had held the record with a selfie she took with Hollywood actors while hosting the Oscars.
Maezawa has made his fortune in the fashion world and is known for his taste in art. He could become one of the first commercial astronauts in a few years time as he has booked a ride atop SpaceX' Super Heavy rocket & Starship. The plan is to fly Maezawa and several others that he will hand pick around the Moon.