Saudi Press

Saudi Arabia and the world
Saturday, Aug 02, 2025

This Fashion Billionaire Plans To Hand Out Cash From Space

This Fashion Billionaire Plans To Hand Out Cash From Space

Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa blasted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan Wednesday on a Soyuz spacecraft taking him to the International Space Station for a 12-day trip.

Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa, who regularly gives out money on Twitter to attract followers, is planning to do the same from space.

The 46-year-old fashion magnate blasted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan Wednesday on a Soyuz spacecraft taking him to the International Space Station for a 12-day trip. "I feel like a kid waiting for a school trip," Maezawa said at an earlier news conference.

The founder of online clothing retailer Zozo Inc is Japan's first space tourist. The trip is a prelude to a planned SpaceX trip to the moon, announced in 2018 by Maezawa and Space Exploration Technologies Corp. founder Elon Musk. As entrepreneurs open up a new era in space, Miami tech tycoon Lane Bess is also among those blasting off this week on a rocket from Jeff Bezos's Blue Origin.

Maezawa, also the first space tourist to travel to the ISS in more than a decade, has spent months tweeting about his planned sojourns beyond earth's atmosphere, using the social-media platform to recruit fellow space tourists and even find a life partner to travel with him on the lunar trip scheduled for 2023. The billionaire, who has a tendency to overshare his life in tweets, will be detailing the results of experiments requested by his fans on his YouTube channel of more than 770,000 subscribers.


The mogul, who skipped college and joined a rock band before amassing his wealth, has also been posting footage of his training sessions at a space center outside Moscow. The trip on the Russian Soyuz MS-20 is estimated to cost more than $88 million for Maezawa and his assistant Yozo Hirano, according to estimates in local media. Also aboard will be Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander Misurkin.

"My dream is finally coming true," said Maezawa, who returns to earth Dec. 20. Winners of the billionaire's online cash handouts - which can be as much as 1 million yen ($8,800) - usually receive them via bank transfers; this time, instead of a lottery, Maezawa has promised that everyone who participates in the handout will win and receive some amount.

The space launch is part of broader effort to open up the ISS to business opportunities as NASA seeks to replace the space station with a commercial orbiter by 2030. In September, a SpaceX rocket sent four civilians into orbit, bolstering Musk's aspirations to make human spaceflight more accessible.

With a net worth of $3.4 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Maezawa is one of Japan's most flamboyant entrepreneurs, making headlines dating celebrities and going on shopping splurges. He began to attract attention in 2016 when he bought a Jean-Michel Basquiat painting for $57.3 million, and another for $110.5 million the following year.

Zozo once became a top retailer in Japan by lining up brands on its website and selling body-tight suits to take measurements for custom-fitted clothes. But the torrid pace of growth didn't last. Maezawa resigned from management in 2019 after selling a stake in the company.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Saudi Press
0:00
0:00
Close
British Tourist Dies Following Hair Transplant in Turkey, Police Investigate
WhatsApp Users Targeted in New Scam Involving Account Takeovers
Trump Deploys Nuclear Submarines After Threats from Former Russian President Medvedev
Germany’s Economic Breakdown and the Return of Militarization: From Industrial Collapse to a New Offensive Strategy
IMF Upgrades Global Growth Forecast as Weaker Dollar Supports Outlook
Politics is a good business: Barack Obama’s Reported Net Worth Growth, 1990–2025
"Crazy Thing": OpenAI's Sam Altman Warns Of AI Voice Fraud Crisis In Banking
Japanese Prime Minister Vows to Stay After Coalition Loses Upper House Majority
President Trump Diagnosed with Chronic Venous Insufficiency After Leg Swelling
Man Dies After Being Pulled Into MRI Machine Due to Metal Chain in New York Clinic
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
"Can You Hit Moscow?" Trump Asked Zelensky To Make Putin "Feel The Pain"
Nvidia Becomes World’s First Four‑Trillion‑Dollar Company Amid AI Boom
Iranian President Reportedly Injured During Israeli Strike on Secret Facility
Kurdistan Workers Party Takes Symbolic Step Towards Peace in Northern Iraq
BRICS Expands Membership with Indonesia and Ten New Partner Countries
Elon Musk Founds a Party Following a Poll on X: "You Wanted It – You Got It!"
AI Raises Alarms Over Long-Term Job Security
Saudi Arabia Maintains Ties with Iran Despite Israel Conflict
Russia Formally Recognizes Taliban Government in Afghanistan
Mediators Edge Closer to Israel-Hamas Ceasefire Agreement
Emirates Airline Expands Market Share with New $20 Million Campaign
House Oversight Committee Subpoenas Former Jill Biden Aide Amid Investigation into Alleged Concealment of President Biden's Cognitive Health
Amazon Reaches Major Automation Milestone with Over One Million Robots
Meta Announces Formation of Ambitious AI Unit, Meta Superintelligence Labs
China Unveils Miniature Insect-Like Surveillance Drone
Marc Marquez Claims Victory at Dutch Grand Prix Amidst Family Misfortune
Iran Executes Alleged Israeli Spies and Arrests Hundreds Amid Post-War Crackdown
Trump Asserts Readiness for Further Strikes on Iran Amid Nuclear Tensions
Iran's Parliament Votes to Suspend Cooperation with Nuclear Watchdog
Trump Announces Upcoming US-Iran Meeting Amid Controversial Airstrikes
Trump Moves to Reshape Middle East Following Israel-Iran Conflict
NATO Leaders Endorse Plan for Increased Defence Spending
U.S. Crude Oil Prices Drop Below $65 Amid Market Volatility
Explosions Rock Doha as Iranian Missiles Target Qatar
“You Have 12 Hours to Flee”: Israeli Threat Campaign Targets Surviving Iranian Officials
Oman Set to Introduce Personal Income Tax, First in Gulf
Germany and Italy Under Pressure to Repatriate $245bn of Gold from US Vaults
Iran Intensifies Crackdown on Alleged Mossad Operatives After Sabotage Claims
Trump Praises Iran’s ‘Very Weak’ Response After U.S. Strikes and Presses Israel to Pursue Peace
WATCH: Israeli forces show the aftermath of a massive airstrike at Iran's Isfahan nuclear site
We have new information and breaking details to share about what is shaping up to be a historic air campaign tonight
Six Massive Bombs Dropped on Fordow; Trump: 'A Historic Moment for the U.S., Israel, and the World'
Fordow: Deeply Buried Iranian Enrichment Site in U.S.–Israel Crosshairs
United States Conducts Precision Strikes on Iran’s Nuclear Sites
US strikes Iran nuclear sites, Trump says
Pakistan to nominate Trump for Nobel Peace Prize.
Israel Confirms Assassination of Quds Force Commander in Tehran
16 Billion Login Credentials Leaked in Unprecedented Cybersecurity Breach
Senate hearing on who was 'really running' Biden White House kicks off
×