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Wanted: Girlfriend to fly to the Moon with Japanese billionaire

Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezaw. ( AFP)
Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezaw. ( AFP)
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13 Jan 2020 08:01:52 GMT9
13 Jan 2020 08:01:52 GMT9

A Japanese billionaire has launched an online wanted ad for a girlfriend who will fly around the Moon with him on a SpaceX rocket.

Yusaku Maezawa, who recently announced his break-up with a Japanese actress, is accepting applications from "single women aged 20 or over" who want to enjoy life to the fullest.

The matchmaking exercise is being turned into a TV show for a web streaming service.

The flamboyant entrepreneur said he agreed to the idea due to loneliness in middle age.

"I have lived exactly as I've wanted to until now," said Maezawa, who has three children with two women.

"I'm 44 now. As feelings of loneliness and emptiness slowly begin to surge upon me, there's one thing that I think about: Continuing to love one woman," he said in the ad.

Maezawa has also made a pitch on his Twitter account, saying: "Why not be the 'first woman' to travel to the moon?" and offered his followers a $9 million giveaway.

The deadline to apply is January 17, 2020. He will make a final selection by the end of March after going on dates with the applicants.

This pitch has made his account the most followed Twitter account in Japan, the social network said.

Maezawa's 7.2 million followers puts his account narrowly ahead of acid-tongued comedian Hiroiki Ariyoshi, who has 7.19 million followers.

The entrepreneur, who last year sold his online fashion business Zozo Inc to SoftBank Group Corp, has driven up his follower numbers by offering 1 million yen ($9,000) each to 1,000 Twitter followers selected at random from among those who retweeted a Jan. 1st post.

As of Monday, that tweet has been shared 4.1 million times. The deadline was Jan. 7.
Maezawa already holds the record for the most retweeted post globally, Twitter said, with a tweet from last year promoting a smaller, $900,000 giveaway shared 4.3 million times.

Maezawa, formerly chief of online fashion company Zozo, which he sold to Yahoo! Japan last year, is known for buying pricey art.

He is scheduled to make a lunar trip in 2023 or later as the first private passenger on a voyage by entrepreneur Elon Musk's SpaceX.

Maezawa also plans to take about half a dozen artists with him on the trip, which will take them around the Moon without landing on it.

AFP

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