Yusaku Maezawa

Launch date: December 8, 2021

Time in space: 14 days

Yusaku Maezawa, or MZ. is a Japanese e-commerce entrepreneur and world renowned art collector. After high school he became a drummer in a rock band, and an avid record collector. His record collection became the foundation of his first company. His mail order business transformed into an online business, which lead him to own and run Start Today, a publicly traded online retail clothing business, which he eventually sold to Yahoo Japan in 2019.

His Contemporary Art Collection is considered one of the finest in the world, and includes works of Jean-Michel Basquiat and Jeff Koons.

In September 2018 MZ announced his intention to fly on the SpaceX Starship, along with a number of guests, around the Moon in a project entitled #DearMoon. The flight is slated to take place no earlier than 2023.

MZ also has a strong social media following, and holds social media records, including for the most retweets. He uses his social media presence to promote his personal philanthropy, at one point giving away 1 million yen ($9,300) to over 1000 randomly selected followers.