Japanese billionaire, Yusaku Maezawa has announced that he will be conducting a social experiment by giving out $9 million to 1,000 people on Twitter to see if it improves their happiness.
Japanese billionaire, Yusaku Maezawa has announced that he will be conducting a social experiment by giving out $9 million to 1,000 people on Twitter to see if it improves their happiness.
The online shopping mogul who made the announcement via a YouTube video, described the contest as a “serious social trial” to see what impact a million yen ($9,000) could have on 1000 people’s life.
The billionaire who 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, urged contestants who are only expected to retweet his January 1 post to use the money “as they like” and to answer regular questionnaires about how they’re using it.
The Japanese billionaire is said to be the first private passenger to fly around the moon with Elon Musk’s SpaceX. He is also known for his high spending on art, sports cars and his predilection for musing on ideas like a world without money.