Japan billionaire Maezawa offers gift money in most retweeted tweet

Kyodo -- Jan 08

Yusaku Maezawa, a Japanese billionaire known for having been named as the first private passenger to orbit the moon, has now become tweeter of the most retweeted tweet of all time by announcing he will give 1 million yen ($9,200) to 100 people each.

The tweet dated Jan. 5 on what he called New Year's gift money had been retweeted more than 5 million times by Monday evening, as users were required to do so in order to obtain the money.

Maezawa, who runs online clothing store Zozotown, said in the twitter post that the money represents his appreciation of customers. But some people have criticized the campaign, saying he is buying followers.

Jan 08 (ANNnewsCH) - ZOZOTOWNの前澤友作社長が総額1億円のお年玉を現金でプレゼントすると発表した。100人に100万円が当たるこの企画に早くも400万人以上の人が参加している。