Yusaku maezawa biography of abraham lincoln author

Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa first entered the public eye as a drummer in a hardcore punk band.

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He went on to make a fortune as an online fashion tycoon, and is best known outside Japan for spending tens of millions of dollars at record-breaking art auctions. Mr Maezawa's ambitions now stretch beyond Earth. He hopes to be the first civilian passenger to fly to the Moon, as part of an ambitious project with Elon Musk's SpaceX.

The colourful executive wants to take a group of artists with him on the flight slated for Mr Maezawa, 42, has not revealed how much he paid for the trip, which brings together two eccentric billionaires who are not averse to being in the global spotlight. The Japanese entrepreneur began selling rare CDs and records in through a company he founded called Start Today.

The mail-order catalogue business moved online at the turn of the millennium and added clothes to its offering. He launched fashion e-retailer Zozotown in , and by the time he was in his mids, he was a billionaire. His company recently made headlines after it launched a bodysuit that customers can use to upload their exact body measurements to the clothes shopping site.

At the time he said he planned to put it on display eventually at a museum in Chiba, his hometown. He said in a statement he "felt shivers" when he first saw it. Now, the billionaire plans to use his trip around the Moon to inspire new "masterpieces," created by the artists he chooses to accompany him. These masterpieces will inspire the dreamer within all of us," the future amateur astronaut told reporters.

The art project called dearMoon was presented in a video released shortly after he and Mr Musk announced the Moon flight.