Yusaku Maezawa
Yusaku Maezawa | |
|---|---|
| Born | Japan |
| Occupation(s) | Entrepreneur, art collector |
| Known for | Founder of Start Today, Zozotown, Zozo; space tourist |
| Notable work | Founder of Contemporary Art Foundation; #dearMoon project participant |
Maezawa is a Japanese billionaire entrepreneur and art aficionado. He established Start Today in 1998 and introduced Zozotown in 2004, which has grown to become Japan's largest online fashion retail platform.
In 2018, Maezawa launched the custom-fit clothing brand Zozo, accompanied by the Zozosuit, a home-based body measurement technology. As of July 2025, his net worth was estimated by Forbes at $1.5 billion.
Early life
Beginning in 1991, Maezawa attended Waseda Jitsugyo High School in Tokyo, where he played drums for a hardcore punk group. The band released their debut EP in 1993. After graduating high school, he opted not to pursue university education and relocated to the United States with his girlfriend, during which time he collected CDs and vinyl records. Upon returning to Japan in 1995, he started his first enterprise focused on selling imported music albums and CDs via mail order, setting the stage for his future entrepreneurial endeavors.
Business
Maezawa founded Start Today in 1998, building upon his mail-order music business. That same year, his band secured a contract with BMG Japan. By 2000, Start Today had shifted its operations online, expanded into apparel sales, and became publicly traded. Maezawa stepped away from his music career in 2001. In 2004, Start Today debuted Zozotown, an online clothing retail platform that was listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange's Mothers Index by 2010 and advanced to the First Section by 2012. Forbes recognized him among the World's Youngest Billionaires in 2011, while Wealth-X ranked him as Asia’s eighth wealthiest entrepreneur under 40 in 2015.
In 2018, he unveiled Zozo, a brand specializing in custom-tailored apparel utilizing the Zozosuit measurement system, expanding its presence to over 72 countries. In September 2019, Maezawa resigned from Zozo following the sale of a controlling 50.1% stake to SoftBank for $3.7 billion and divested an additional 30% of his personal shares to Yahoo Japan. In 2023, he invested $23 million in Astroscale, a satellite company.
Contemporary Art Foundation
In 2012, Maezawa established the Contemporary Art Foundation based in Tokyo to nurture emerging artists representing the future of contemporary art. The foundation organizes collection exhibitions twice yearly. In May 2016, he gained widespread attention by acquiring Jean-Michel Basquiat’s Untitled (1982) devil-themed artwork for $57.3 million and set another record in May 2017 with a $110.5 million purchase of Basquiat’s skull painting from the same year. During the 2016 auction event, he also purchased pieces by Bruce Nauman, Alexander Calder, Richard Prince, and Jeff Koons, spending a total of $98 million over two days. Maezawa intends to open a contemporary art museum in Chiba to display his collection. In 2022, he sold an untitled Basquiat painting for $85 million.
Proposed circumlunar flight
On September 17, 2018, Maezawa was announced as the inaugural commercial passenger slated for a lunar flyby aboard SpaceX's Starship spacecraft on a six-day mission scheduled no earlier than 2023. Initially planning to invite six to eight artists as part of the #dearMoon project, registration was later extended to the general public in March 2021. By December 2022, Maezawa had chosen crew members including DJ Steve Aoki and rapper T.O.P. However, due to delays in the Starship program throughout 2023, the mission was postponed indefinitely and ultimately cancelled on June 1, 2024.
ISS mission
On 13 May 2021, Maezawa revealed plans to travel with Space Adventures to the International Space Station in December 2021, utilizing a Russian Soyuz vehicle. Accompanied by his assistant, Yozo Hirano, he stayed aboard the station for 12 days, fulfilling the top 100 public requests and capturing key moments to prepare for his upcoming SpaceX lunar journey.
The mission commenced on 8 December 2021, launching from Kazakhstan's Baikonur Cosmodrome aboard the Russian-operated Soyuz MS-20. On 18 December, Maezawa announced an initiative to distribute funds "from space" to participants, which began the following day. He safely returned to Earth on 20 December as planned.
Most retweeted
On 5 January 2019, Maezawa pledged one million yen (approximately US$9,300) each to 100 randomly chosen individuals who retweeted and followed him, resulting in four million retweets and follows. He repeated this gesture on 31 December 2019, offering one million yen (around US$9,200) to 1,000 randomly selected followers who retweeted his post.
Personal life
Maezawa is divorced and has three children. He lives in Chiba, Japan. Among his possessions is a bespoke Pagani Zonda, named the Pagani Zonda ZoZo.