The Japanese online retail tycoon who plans to travel to the moon on the SpaceX rocket says he respects and trusts Elon Musk as a fellow entrepreneur, despite his recent troubles.
“Twitter can get you into trouble,” Yusaku Maezawa, chief executive of Zozo Inc., said Tuesday at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club in Tokyo. “And that can be said of Elon Musk, too.”
Musk’s tweet in August that declared he had secured financing for a Tesla buyout got him in trouble with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Under a settlement, Tesla and Musk each must pay a $20 million penalty. Musk also stepped down as Tesla’s chairman.
“That kind of company is marvelous. I felt that as another entrepreneur.”Although Maezawa said nothing was decided yet on who was going with him on the space travel, he said he wanted to take visual artists, fashion designers and musicians from a variety of backgrounds, including the actress he was dating, Ayame Goriki, “if she proves to be a good match for the mission.”WATCH BELOW: SpaceX lands its first reusable rocket on the West Coast
“There is no end if you start thinking about that,” he said of the risks.Maezawa said he has not yet started training for the mission, but he has been getting regular medical checkups and is brushing up on his English.In a nation where people tend to be focused on blending in and getting along, Maezawa has stood out. Forbes magazine estimates his wealth at $2.9 billion.Maezawa ran an import CD business and played in a rock band before he embarked on his online fashion business with his shopping site Zozotown.WATCH BELOW: NASA assigns astronauts to SpaceX and Boeing missions