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Billionaire Is Giving Away US$9M To Internet Users As A Social Experiment
By Thanussha Priyah, 10 Jan 2020
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Image via Shutterstock
Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa has offered a billion yen (roughly US$9 million) to be divided among 100 people on Twitter as part of a social experiment.
In return, recipients are to update what they have done with the money. Maezawa started the social media project to observe if money could truly bring them happiness.
Around four million people have participated in the social experiment in hopes of getting a bit of his fortune. All they had to do was retweet his post, shown below, before 7 January 2020 to be eligible for the prize money.
🎍謹賀新年🎍
— Yusaku Maezawa (MZ) 前澤友作 (@yousuck2020) December 31, 2019
【総額10億円】#前澤お年玉 100万円を1000人にプレゼントします!
100万円で皆さまの人生がよりハッピーになりますように。
応募方法は僕のフォローとこのツイートのリツイート。締切は1月7日23:59まで。
企画趣旨や当選条件などはYouTubeで説明してます。 https://t.co/kBgwwmJoaP pic.twitter.com/1Fr0Vq4i6Z
Maezawa shared that he would personally inform the winners through Twitter’s direct message feature in two to three days.
He will then ask the recipients about the impact of the windfall, as well as discuss the outcome of the experiment with social scientists.
The online shopping mogul, who has an estimated worth of US$2 billion, has also made quite a name for himself a high-rolling art collector. He previously bought a Jean-Michel Basquiat painting for US$111 million, making it the highest price paid for an American artist’s work at an auction.
This isn’t the first time Maezawa has given away money for a social experiment. Back in January 2019, he promised 100 million yen (roughly US$914,000) to be divided among 100 Twitter users, and recipients each took home about US$9,000. Maezawa’s post even became the most retweeted at the time with over four million retweets.
[via CNN, images via Shutterstock.com]
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