Maezawa is scheduled to travel to the Moon in 2023 on board SpaceX’s Big Falcon Rocket.
Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa will be the first private customer to travel around the moon, SpaceX ‘s CEO Elon Musk announced on Monday.
The one-week flight — scheduled to take place in 2023 — will see Maezawa become the first man to travel around the Moon since the wind down of NASA’s Apollo programme in 1972.
Here’s what you need to know about him:
Maezawa, 42, is the founder of ZOZOTOWN, Japan’s largest online clothing retailer, and his private fortune is estimated to total $2.9 billion according to Forbes magazine.
A music lover and autodidact, Maezawa decided against university and moved to the US after high school. Upon his return two years later, he launched a mail-order album business which slowly morphed into a clothing business. Success was such that he eschewed pursuing a career in music despite his band — Switch Style, formed with classmates in high school — having signed with a major label.
Along with music, art is his other big passion. Last year, he spent $110.5 million to buy a painting by Jean-Michel Pasquiat. His private collection also includes works by Picasso, Andy Warhol and Jeff Koons.
