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Yusaku Maezawa purchased every seat on the SpaceX flight to the moon. Who is he?

Maezawa is not only a high-profile entrepreneur specializing in online retail and a world-famous art collector, but he is also set to be SpaceX's first paying tourist to take a trip around the moon

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By Gugulethu Mkhabela | September 18, 2018 | Travel Leisure

Text by Allyson Chiu, (c) 2018, The Washington Post

 

On Monday, Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa stood in front of a crowd of reporters at the SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, California, and declared jubilantly, ‘Finally, I can tell you that I choose to go to the moon.’

And the 42-year-old announced he purchased not one but all the seats aboard SpaceX's Big Falcon Rocket. Maezawa is not only a high-profile entrepreneur specializing in online retail and a world-famous art collector, but he is also set to be SpaceX's first paying tourist to take a trip around the moon. Maezawa's roughly week-long journey is tentatively scheduled for 2023, as The Washington Post's Christian Davenport reported.

‘Ever since I was a kid, I have loved the moon,’ he said during a news conference. ‘Just staring at the moon filled my imagination. It's always there and has continued to inspire humanity. That is why I could not pass up this opportunity to see the moon up close.’ Clad in a dark blue blazer over a white graphic T-shirt, Maezawa, with a giant grin dominating his youthful features, looked more like a boy band member than a person ranked 18th on Forbes's 2018 list of Japan's 50 richest people. But anyone who has tracked his meteoric rise would know that being different is normal for a man whose life has been defined by surprising moments.

‘Japanese people think I'm a weirdo," Maezawa told British auction house Christie's in 2017. "They say, who is this Maezawa person?’ To put it simply, Maezawa is a former punk rocker-turned-self-made e-commerce billionaire with a love of expensive art. While his company's (Zozotown) success earned him fame in Japan, Maezawa dominated international news last year when he dropped more than $110 million on a painting by American artist Jean-Michel Basquiat at a Sotheby's auction.

 

'I buy things on impulse - I have done since I was young,' Maezawa told Christie's. 'I have also always bought things up to my financial limit. And when I ran out of money, I would make more money - then I would buy again.' But the Basquiat wouldn't just be a spur of the moment purchase that would end up hanging in Maezawa's home or office never to be seen by the public again. In May 2017, Maezawa posted on Instagram a series of photos of himself alongside the work, writing, 'When I first encountered this painting, I was struck with so much excitement and gratitude for my love of art. I want to share that experience with as many people as possible.'

True to his word, Maezawa has sponsored an international tour for the artwork. Earlier this year, it was displayed at the Brooklyn Museum and the Seattle Art Museum, and is now making its way through Europe, the magazine Art News reported. Maezawa, whose extensive personal collection features works by Picasso, Alexander Calder and Willem de Kooning, among others, told Christie's he has plans to open an art museum in his hometown of Chiba.

Like his sharing of art, Maezawa said Monday that he also wants to share his experience of seeing the moon, explaining why he purchased every seat on the rocket for an undisclosed amount. 'I did not want to have such a fantastic experience by myself, that would be a little lonely," he said. "I don't like being alone. I want to share these experiences and things with as many people as possible.'

The interstellar trip is all part of Maezawa's grand project, which he has named Dear Moon. His plan is to bring with him six to eight artists from various disciplines, including film, architecture, painting, sculpture, and photography, with the goal that upon their return to Earth they create works inspired by the experience.

Maezawa said his team of artists will be recruited from around the world, adding, ‘If you should hear from me, please say yes and accept my invitation. Please don't say no.’

Read the rest of the article on The Washington Post

Images: Instagram @Yusaka2020

 

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