A life extraordinary

Armed with a fierce desire to be more than just a worker drone, Maezawa took swift action making a series of decisions leading to a life that has been nothing short of extraordinary.

It all began in the ’90s, when Maezawa followed his then-girlfriend to the United States where he spent most of his time skateboarding along the streets of Santa Monica, California, he told reporters on Monday.

While in the US, Maezawa, an avid musician, also followed one of his favourite bands, the Gorilla Biscuits, a New Yorkbased hardcore punk group, the Times in London reported. Back in Japan, Maezawa was a drummer for Switch Style, a punk band he formed with friends that achieved moderate commercial success, according to the Nikkei Asian Review, a Japanese publication.

His six-month stint in the US would turn out to be a pivotal moment in his career, for it was there that he got the idea to sell music merchandise from Japan, Forbes reported. Upon returning to his home country, he launched a mail-order business selling T-shirts and CDs out of his kitchen, which became the foundation for a company he named Start Today, also the name of a Gorilla Biscuits album, according to the Japan Times. It was 1998 and Maezawa was 22.

Still touring and recording with his band, Maezawa started getting overwhelmed by the responsibilities that came with juggling a music career and running a company. After a few years, something had to give.

“When it became physically impossible to handle both, I chose my company — that was around when I was 25 or 26,” he told the Japan Times.

‘Dear Moon’

This was a decision that would prove fruitful for Maezawa. Start Today had shifted to focus more on fashion and apparel, eventually spawning an immensely popular e-commerce site called Zozotown, Forbes reported. According to the Japan Times, the website now features around 6,300 brands and the company employs nearly 900 people. In July, the site launched its own inhouse fashion line called Zozo, available in 72 countries, Racked reported.

Maezawa now has a net worth of $2.9 billion, according to Forbes.

While his company’s 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.

Called Untitled, the colorful graffiti-style depiction of a screaming skull became the sixth-most expensive piece ever sold at auction, the New York Times reported. “I buy things on impulse — I have done since I was young,” Maezawa told Christie’s.

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 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.

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.