Japanese Billionaire Yusaku Maezawa Bets Big on Himself – Amazing Rags to Riches Story

Do you dream of starting your own business and becoming rich one day? Yusaku Maezawa’s story proves that with hard work and determination, anyone can find success.

Early Ambitions: Maezawa’s Journey from Music to Commerce

Maezawa grew up in Japan and started playing drums in a punk rock band when he was just 16 years old. After graduating high school in 1991, Maezawa decided not to attend college. Instead, he moved to America with his girlfriend. During this time, Maezawa started collecting and selling CDs and records. He was doing this as a hobby, but was able to make a great living just from mail order sales of music.

The Birth of Start Today: A New Venture in Fashion Retail

In 1995, Maezawa returned to Japan and used his music business as the basis to start a new company called Start Today. The company began selling clothing online in 2000. Six years later, Start Today launched the website Zozotown, which sells many different clothing brands. Zozotown grew quickly and became very successful.

By 2012, Start Today was officially traded on the stock market. This allowed Maezawa, as the founder, to become extremely rich. Today, Maezawa’s net worth is estimated to be around $2 billion! He was able to go from nothing to billionaire status in about 20 years.

Strategic Moves: Building a Business Empire Without a Degree

So how exactly did Maezawa build his business and make so much money without even going to college?

Visionary Insight: Recognizing the Potential of Online Retail

One major key was that Maezawa recognized the potential of online shopping early on. Back in the 1990s, buying things on the internet was new and many people did not trust it. But Maezawa believed that online retail was the future.

Strategic Partnerships: Capitalizing on Fashion E-Commerce

Another smart decision was focusing on selling fashion brands on Zozotown. At the time, not many major clothing companies were selling online. Maezawa convinced popular brands like United Arrows to let Zozotown sell their clothes. This helped attract more customers and helped grow the business quickly.

Financial Acumen: The Stock Success of Start Today

Owning a large portion of Start Today stock also helped Maezawa become rich. As the founder, Maezawa owned over one third of the company. So when Start Today went public on the stock market in 2012, the value of Maezawa’s shares skyrocketed.

Investing in Lifestyle: The Fruits of Entrepreneurial Labor

In September of 2019, Maezawa made the decision to step down from his role as chief executive and offloaded the majority of his shares to Yahoo Japan, a move that culminated in a lucrative transaction exceeding $2.3 billion in value. Maezawa has been able to use this wealth to buy expensive homes, take trips around the world, and purchase major works of art.

How Did Yusaku Maezawa Get So Rich?

Yusaku Maezawa amassed his wealth by founding and expanding Start Today, which operated Zozotown, Japan’s largest online fashion retail website. He astutely capitalized on the nascent online shopping trend and grew his company rapidly by securing partnerships with popular fashion brands.

Maezawa’s financial success was further solidified when he took Start Today public, and his substantial shareholding’s value surged, contributing to his billionaire status.

While luck and timing played a role, Maezawa’s success mainly came from his passion. He believed in his business ideas when others did not. Maezawa also hired teams of talented people that helped Zozotown become popular. Even though he did not attend college, Maezawa proved that with hard work, determination and vision, massive success is possible.