In a world where billionaires are often criticized for hoarding their wealth, one Japanese fashion tycoon turned heads by reaching into his fortune and giving away millions with no strings attached.
Yusaku Maezawa, the billionaire founder of online fashion retailer Zozotown, shocked the world when he announced in 2020 that he would personally distribute $9 million to his social media followers. Even more intriguing than the amount itself was the reason behind his generosity.
Maezawa’s giveaway, which he announced on Twitter on January 1, 2020, wasn’t some publicity stunt tied to a product launch or a marketing gimmick. Instead, he explained that the initiative as a large-scale social experiment.
That moment when Elon Musk carried Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa on his shoulders at SpaceX HQ in California.
A memorable scene before the launch of the now-postponed Dear Moon project, which aimed to send Maezawa and his team around the Moon aboard a SpaceX rocket. pic.twitter.com/4T9xUXgF4p
— SMX 🇺🇸 (@iam_smx) May 19, 2025
The billionaire told his millions of followers that 1,000 people who retweeted his message would be randomly selected to receive 1 million yen each, which amounts to $9,000 per person. The only thing expected in return? That participants allow researchers to track how the income impacted their happiness and overall quality of life through regular surveys.
When the announcement went live, it went viral on social media. Maezawa, already famous in Japan for his extravagant lifestyle and expensive art collection, was no stranger to headlines. But this was different. This was a billionaire handing out a significant sum of money to ordinary people, with no competition, no catch, and no repayment expected.
What’s particularly fascinating is Maezawa’s stated motivation. “It’s a serious social trial,” he explained in a video posted alongside the announcement. He wanted to test the idea of a universal basic income on a small scale, an economic concept that has been studied by many economists.
Universal basic income is the idea that everyone in a society should receive a guaranteed amount of money regularly, regardless of employment status, to improve well-being and reduce poverty. While many governments have hesitated to try such experiments, Maezawa decided to do it himself.
The billionaire hoped that by following up with recipients over time, he could collect real data on how sudden financial support might change people’s lives. Would they spend it on education, pay off debts, start a business, or simply relieve daily stress? Would it increase their reported happiness or decrease anxiety? Maezawa believed the answers could help spark important conversations about wealth distribution and societal welfare.
To put the scale of his generosity in perspective, the $9 million gift is far from trivial, even for someone with Maezawa’s fortune. The art-loving entrepreneur made headlines in the past for spending over $110 million on a Jean-Michel Basquiat painting, and in 2018, he purchased every seat on SpaceX’s first private mission to the moon, which he planned to turn into a creative journey with artists.
Yet giving away millions directly to everyday people marked a striking departure from the usual billionaire hobbies of art collecting and space travel. Reactions from around the world were a mix of awe and skepticism.
Many praised Maezawa as a visionary willing to put his money where his mouth is, while others dismissed the gesture as a publicity stunt. But for the 1,000 people who found themselves unexpectedly $9,000 richer, the motives may have mattered less than the impact on their lives.
By mid‑2021, Maezawa and his research team had published initial survey results from their year‑long study. According to the official Maezawa Basic Income Social Experiment 2020 report, recipients experienced a 10 percent boost in self‑reported happiness.
Additionally, respondents reported positive life shifts: lowered divorce rates compared to non‑recipients and a surge in personal growth activities, such as launching a business, studying abroad, or pursuing marriage. Altogether, the data suggest that even a one‑off cash payment of ¥1 million can meaningfully improve well‑being and encourage positive life changes.
