Japanese fashion
tycoon Yusaku Maezawa is giving away $9 million to his Twitter followers in
what he says is a “social experiment” to see if the payment boosts
their happiness.
Maezawa will
give 1 million yen ($9,000) to 1,000 followers selected at random from those
who retweeted a Jan. 1 post, with the impact of the money to be tracked through
regular surveys.
“It’s a
serious social experiment,” said Maezawa on YouTube, adding he hopes to
attract interest from academics and economists.
Maezawa, who
is to be the first private passenger to fly around the moon with Elon Musk’s
SpaceX, is known for his high spending on art and sports cars but also has a
predilection for musing on ideas like a world without money.
He tied the
giveaway to the idea of basic income, or the theory of providing a periodic
no-strings-attached payment to all citizens, that has gained traction in some
political circles and is backed by Democratic U.S. presidential candidate
Andrew Yang.
Maezawa said
that given that he “has the money and free time” to make the
payments, he felt the need to try and inspire greater debate over the merits of
the theory in Japan.
The idea of
a universal basic income has gained support over fears technology such as
artificial intelligence will wipe out large numbers of jobs but that concern is
for now less pronounced in Japan with its tight labour market, said Nagahama.
Its the
second, larger, giveaway by the entrepreneur, who in November secured a $900
million payday through the sale of his online fashion business Zozo Inc to
SoftBank Group Corp .
Maezawa, who
recently grabbed headlines after his split from actress girlfriend Ayame
Goriki, has gathered almost 7 million followers on Twitter with his mix of displays
of conspicuous consumption and folksy pronouncements on the meaning of life.
YouTube is
the latest online outlet for the businessman, with videos including a tour of
his private jet, a visit to the barber to dye his hair and updating his bank
book after November’s windfall.
The debate
over basic income comes as income inequality continues to grow in the United
States, where in recent years some of its wealthiest entrepreneurs, from
Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates to investor Warren Buffet, have pledged to give
away most of their wealth.