Japanese Billionaire’s $924,000 Tweet Becomes the Most Retweeted in History

Japanese Billionaire Yusaku Maezawa will give away 100 million yen ($924,000) to 100 random people with no strings attached in a tweet Sunday.

All a user has to do is follow Maezawa on Twitter and retweet the post. As of today, the tweet has more than 4.1 retweets, making it the most retweeted tweet in history.

ZOZOTOWN新春セールが史上最速で取扱高100億円を先ほど突破！！日頃の感謝を込め、僕個人から100名様に100万円【総額1億円のお年玉】を現金でプレゼントします。応募方法は、僕をフォローいただいた上、このツイートをRTするだけ。受付は1/7まで。当選者には僕から直接DMします！ #月に行くならお年玉 pic.twitter.com/cKQfPPbOI3

— Yusaku Maezawa (MZ) 前澤友作 (@yousuck2020) January 5, 2019

The tweet is in a style reminiscent of a Japanese new year greeting card. The image itself is reminiscent of the movie “E.T” with a rocket silhouette instead of a bike. Maezawa will message the winners personally following the end of the contest today.

Following the tweet, Maezawa has gained 4.27 million on Twitter from 500,000 before his giveaway.

It beat out last year’s winner at 3.58 million retweets, done by college student Carter Wilkinson.

HELP ME PLEASE. A MAN NEEDS HIS NUGGS pic.twitter.com/4SrfHmEMo3

— Carter Wilkerson (@carterjwm) April 6, 2017

It also beat the previous record 3.3 million retweets set by Ellen DeGeneres with a celebrity selfie at the 2014 Oscars.

If only Bradley’s arm was longer. Best photo ever. #oscars pic.twitter.com/C9U5NOtGap

— Ellen DeGeneres (@TheEllenShow) March 3, 2014

The tweet is in celebration of Zozotown, an online fashion retailer owned by the billionaire, reaching 10 billion yen in sales. Maezawa was also a funder of SpaceX’s trip to the moon. He made headlines in the U.S. when he was named as the first private passenger to the Moon by SpaceX.