Posted on Saturday, January 5, 2019 on Twitter, a message from Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa, founder of the online textile distributor Zozo, became, in just a few hours, the most shared tweet in the history of the internet.
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Why was the tweet so popular?
In his message, the businessman promised nothing less than to distribute 100 million yen (about 800,000 euros) to the first 100 of his followers to relay his message before Monday, January 7 in the evening. It was enough for his 5.08 million fans to share the tweet more than 4.6 million times in record time. In 2023, its author should become the first SpaceX private passenger to travel around the Moon.
However, despite what one might believe, the avowed purpose of the billionaire was not to go viral with his initiative. Yusaku Maezawa's approach actually had a more philanthropic purpose, as he explained a little later in a second message posted on the social network with the blue bird icon.
A follow-up
The Japanese entrepreneur, who promised that each winner would receive a private message from him, wrote:
I think what everybody wants is a dream, not money. If you get a million yen, you'll spend it on friends, family, social welfare or animals. This makes me want to cry (tears of joy), because this money will be spent on something other than yourself.
Check out the video for more on what made this Tweet so popular!
