Art + Culture

前澤友作コレクションですが、これで終わりか? Is this the end of the 'MAEZAWA Yusaku Collection'?

MAEZAWA Yusaku ZOZO company stock price 2019/2/8
MAEZAWA Yusaku ZOZO company stock price 2019/2/8

Before gossip will take over the topics about world wide famous Japanese collector MAEZAWA Yusaku 前澤友作, I just want to post today’s stock price of his company ZOZO Inc. on ART+CULTURE. For the record, so to say.
In the actual Japanese magazine PEN, with the main topic ”The Value of Art” I was missing his name and his collection, as other Japanese collectors had been introduced.

PEN Magazine
PEN Magazine 2019/2/25

「お金」から読み解く新しいアート特集、Pen 2月15日号「いまこそ知りたい!アートの値段。」が好評発売中です
https://www.pen-online.jp/news/info/pen_468_art/1

Yesterday Maezawa announced that he will stop using/operating TWITTER for the time being.
Let’s hope, he can manage to get his company back on track again.

前澤友作 Twitter 2019-2-7
前澤友作 on Twitter 2019/2/7

Yusaku Maezawa (MZ) 前澤友作 @yousuck2020
本業に集中します。チャレンジは続きます。必ず結果を出します。しばらくツイッターはお休みさせてください
https://twitter.com/yousuck2020/status/1093377612578082817

Japanese Billionaire’s E-Commerce Site Hits Turbulence
Yusaku Maezawa bought the first ticket to fly to the moon with Elon Musk’s SpaceX but on Earth his company is no longer soaring
WALL STREET JOURNAL, By Megumi Fujisawa, Feb.2, 2019
TOKYO—The Japanese billionaire who bought the first ticket to fly around the moon on Elon Musk’s SpaceX vehicle is losing momentum back on Earth.
The business of selling fashion brands online may not be rocket science, but it is getting trickier for Japanese entrepreneur Yusaku Maezawa after years of rapid growth for his site, with big brands backing away and competition from the likes of Amazon.com Inc. rising.
full article at:
https://www.wsj.com/articles/japanese-billionaires-e-commerce-site-hits-turbulence-11549112401


See also:

サザビーズとクリスティーズのオークションに夢中になっている前澤友作
MAEZAWA Yusaku, crazy about auctions at Sotheby’s and Christie’s
https://art-culture.world/articles/maezawa-yusaku-crazy-about-auctions-at-sothebys-and-christies/

前澤友作の米国アーティスト・ダーリン、マーク・グロッチャンの作品:クリスティーズのロンドン・オークションで下落
MAEZAWA Yusaku’s American Artist Darling Mark Grotjahn @ Christie’s London & Lévy Gorvy : Sharp Depreciation
https://art-culture.world/articles/maezawa-yusaku-mark-grotjahn-christies/

ARTnews の「トップ200コレクターズ」」2018
THE TOP 200 COLLECTORS (ARTnews 2018)
https://art-culture.world/articles/the-top-200-collectors-artnews-2018/

前澤友作@朝日新聞、2019年2月1日
前澤友作@朝日新聞、2019年2月1日
MAEZAWA Yusaku as gossip topic in Japanese magazine SHUKAN SHINCHO 2019-1-24
MAEZAWA Yusaku as gossip topic in Japanese magazine SHUKAN SHINCHO 2019/1/24
前澤友作 朝日新聞、平成31年1月10日
前澤友作 @ 朝日新聞、平成31年1月10日

拝啓、ZOZO前澤友作様「1億円バラマキ、本当に下品です」
『藤田孝典』 2019/01/09
「うわー!100万もらえるって!乗っかるか」
と半分冗談で言った私にけーすけは
「俺、こういうの好きじゃない」
と一言だけ。
この感覚かっこいいと思った。
たしかにそんな風にばらまくお金があるなら、月に行けるお金があるなら、ZOZOで働いてる人たちを幸せにしてあげて欲しい。
不満に思ってる人たちがいるなら。

とうとう始まった前澤バッシング。ばらまくなら低賃金労働者の最低賃金あげよ! マルクスまで引用! 至極まっとうなご意見。最低賃金派遣&バイト労働者搾取で成り上がった男ですね。

https://ironna.jp/article/11629?p=1&fbclid=IwAR2fK_u-imF1fCK-H8vhGa0PdmpAj4wwFNViWHigeIo4Cy8quh95XF1lnk4

Let’s discuss Yusaku Maezawa’s great Twitter giveaway
BY JESSE JOHNSON, Japan Times, STAFF WRITER, JAN 14, 2019 


In the latest headline-grabbing move by Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa, the founder and CEO of major online fashion mall operator Zozo Inc. has announced a plan to dole out ¥1 million to 100 individuals to mark a successful New Year’s sale.

Maezawa, who is scheduled to take a trip to the moon in 2023, wrote on Twitter late Saturday that he would give away a total of ¥100 million in cash out of his own pocket to 100 followers on the social media service who follow his account and retweet his post by the end of Monday.
“The Zozotown New Year’s sale was the fastest ever to reach sales of ¥10 billion,” he wrote, “So as a gesture of my appreciation, I will personally be giving a present of ¥1 million in cash to 100 people for a grand total of ¥100 million.”
The tweet quickly went viral, garnering more than 2.5 million retweets as of late Sunday after smashing the previous Japan retweet record earlier in the day. It also prompted an incredible upsurge in users following Maezawa’s Twitter account, which went from some 500,000 prior to Saturday’s post to some 2.94 million by late Sunday.
In another tweet Sunday, the Zozo chief thanked those who had already participated, saying he believed a “dream,” not cold, hard cash, was the motivating factor behind the attention surrounding his plan.
“I think that what everyone wants is a dream, not the money,” he wrote. “If you have ¥1 million, you want to use it for something like friends, family members, society and animals. This makes me want to cry because the use is aimed at things other than yourselves. Japan, you’re not half bad. You have many dreams. As for the retweets, I understand we hit a new Japan record. … Thank you.”
In mid-September, Maezawa captured global attention after announcing he would embark on an 800,000-km trip around the moon and back aboard the BFR spacecraft developed by Elon Musk’s SpaceX, along with several artists he plans to invite.
The billionaire, who would become the first private lunar traveler, said he hopes to contribute to world peace, a desire that was given greater urgency following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the United States. Because of this, he said he was seeking “artists committed to making the world a better place.”

MAEZAWA Yusaku giving ¥100 million in cash to 100 followers 2019 Jan. 5th
MAEZAWA Yusaku giving ¥100 million in cash to 100 followers 2019 Jan. 5th

Yusaku Maezawa (MZ) 前澤友作 @yousuck2020, Jan 5
ZOZOTOWN新春セールが史上最速で取扱高100億円を先ほど突破!!日頃の感謝を込め、僕個人から100名様に100万円【総額1億円のお年玉】を現金でプレゼントします。応募方法は、僕をフォローいただいた上、このツイートをRTするだけ。受付は1/7まで。当選者には僕から直接DMします! #月に行くならお年玉

Reaction by MAEZAWA Yusaku giving ¥100 million in cash to 100 followers 2019 Jan. 5th
Reaction by MAEZAWA Yusaku giving ¥100 million in cash to 100 followers 2019 Jan. 5th

Yusaku Maezawa (MZ) 前澤友作 @yousuck2020, Jan 9
ひと段落したのでやっとゆっくりネット上見てる。批判もあるね。誰も損してないし、楽しいし夢があるから盛り上がったんだと思うけど。
自分一人の力で稼いだわけじゃないんだから、お金はケチらず貯金せずどんどん使って社会に回す方がいい。買い物でも寄付でもお年玉でも税金でも。お金持ちの役割。

Twitter 2019-2-8

https://twitter.com/shinkawa_takash/status/1093651469591441408


2019/5/5 up-date:

Japan Fashion Tycoon Says Selling Valuable Paintings, Has No Money
New York Times, Reuters, May 5, 2019
TOKYO — Japanese fashion tycoon Yusaku Maezawa said he plans to auction off artworks worth millions of dollars because he has no money.
Maezawa, the founder and CEO of online fashion retailer Zozo, said in a Twitter post on Saturday that he plans to sell several items at a Sotheby’s auction in New York on May 16.
The art-loving billionaire attached screenshots of two artworks to the post – an Ed Ruscha painting with an estimate of $2 million-$3 million and an Andy Warhol flowers painting with an estimate of $1.5 million-$2 million.
In response to a user query if the sale was because he has no money, Maezawa replied in a Twitter post on Sunday, “Yes, I never have any money because I always spend it,” ending the post with a laughing face emoji.

The publicity-seeking entrepreneur’s past spending antics include the $110 million purchase of a Jean-Michel Basquiat painting and signing up to be the first private passenger taken around the moon by Elon Musk’s SpaceX.
Maezawa’s ambitions have hit turbulence with the billionare only recently returning to Twitter after a series of corporate missteps saw Zozo’s stock price plunge by more than half and left its cash position weakened.

https://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2019/05/05/world/asia/05reuters-zozo-maezawa-art.html

New York Times Yusaku Maezawa
screenshot from the New York Times

Zozo CEO Maezawa to Sell Some of His Art Collection at Sotheby’s
By Toru Fujioka
May 5, 2019
Zozo Inc. founder and CEO Yusaku Maezawa said in a tweet Saturday that he plans to sell part of his much-publicized art collection, including a work by Andy Warhol, at a Sotheby’s auction on May 16.
Maezawa said he wants to sell the artworks to buyers who can take proper care of them. The Japanese billionaire made a splash in the art world in 2017 when he spent $110.5 million on a single Jean-Michel Basquiat painting at a Sotheby’s auction, setting a record for an American artist’s work at the time.
Maezawa resumed Twitter activity last month after announcing in February that he was taking a break from the social-media platform.
The forecast for operating income at Zozo, Japan’s second-largest online shopping site, missed analysts’ estimates last month.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-05-05/zozo-ceo-maezawa-to-sell-some-of-his-art-collection-at-sotheby-s

前澤社長 所蔵の現代アート数点を売却へ ウォーホルなどサザビーズで
 ZOZOの前澤友作社長(43)が4日、ツイッターを更新。所蔵するアンディ・ウォーホルの絵画などの現代アートの作品を今月16日に開催されるサザビーズのオークションに出品することを明らかにした。

 前澤氏が海外のオークションに所蔵品を出品しているという情報はネット上で駆け巡っていたが、この日、ツイッターで「アート作品を5月16日のサザビーズオークションに数点出品します。大切に引き継いでくださる方にお譲りします。」とツイート。正式に出品を報告した。

 ツイッターには、現代アート界を代表するアメリカの画家、芸術家、ウォーホルの「FLOWERS」、同じく20世紀のアメリカンアートを代表するエド・ルシェの「BONES IN MOTION」の写真を投稿している。コンテンポラリー(現代)アートセールスで少なくともこの2点は出品されるようだ。

 前澤氏は2月7日のツイッターに「本業に集中します。チャレンジは続きます。必ず結果を出します。しばらくツイッターはお休みさせてください」とつぶやき、更新をストップ。約2カ月半の沈黙を破り、4月25日に再開していた。

https://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20190504-00000152-dal-ent

Yusaku Maezawa (MZ) 前澤友作 @yousuck2020
アート作品を5月16日のサザビーズオークションに数点出品します。大切に引き継いでくださる方にお譲りします。
https://twitter.com/yousuck2020/status/1124563586850836480

Yusaku Maezawa sells art collection
Yusaku Maezawa sells part of his art collection

100万円お年玉またやるのにお金必要なんだもん。
前澤社長 所蔵の現代アート数点を売却へ ウォーホルなどサザビーズで
https://twitter.com/yousuck2020/status/1124906796521418752

Yusaku Maezawa sells part of his art collection at Sotheby’s
Yusaku Maezawa sells part of his art collection at Sotheby’s

Sotheby’s CONTEMPORARY ART EVENING AUCTION 2019/5/16
Andy Warhol
FLOWERS
Estimate 1,500,000 — 2,000,000 USD
http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2019/contemporary-art-evening-auction-n10069/lot.39.html

Ed Ruscha
BONES IN MOTION
Estimate 2,000,000 — 3,000,000 USD
http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2019/contemporary-art-evening-auction-n10069/lot.42.html

2019/9/12 up-date:

Yahoo Japan to buy Zozo for 400 bil. yen, Maezawa steps down
September 12, 2019

Yahoo Japan Corp. said Thursday it will make online fashion retailer Zozo Inc. a subsidiary for about 400 billion yen ($3.7 billion) in a friendly takeover.
The operator of the Zozotown clothing store said it has appointed Kotaro Sawada as chief executive officer to replace Yusaku Maezawa, a charismatic entrepreneur who chose to step down.
The acquisition comes with Yahoo intending to make online sales a part of its growth strategy, allowing it to nip at the heels of U.S. giant Amazon.com Inc. and Japan’s Rakuten Inc.
Yahoo’s online sales are expected to surpass 2.6 trillion yen after taking a stake in Zozo.
Yahoo will start a takeover bid at 2,620 yen per share as early as early October, while setting a 50.1 percent cap on the purchase of shares in Zozo. Maezawa has agreed to sell a 30 percent stake in the company, leaving him holding 7 percent of Zozo.
“I will take a new path, leaving Zozo to a new president,” he said in a tweet.
The announcement pushed the share price of the online apparel retailer up 15.1 percent at the end of Thursday morning trading at 2,492 yen on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
Maezawa, considered an unconventional entrepreneur, is set to become in 2023 the first person to travel to the Moon since the Apollo program ended in 1972.
He is booked to be the first private passenger to orbit the Moon in a Big Falcon Rocket spaceship being developed by Space X, the space transportation firm of U.S. tech billionaire Elon Musk.
Maezawa established Start Today, the precursor of Zozo, in 1998 and changed the company name last October. It posted a group net profit of 15.99 billion yen on sales of 118.4 billion yen in fiscal 2018 that ended March.

2019/9/21 up-date:

ZOZO前澤氏「どうしても宇宙に行きたい」–涙ながらに語った退任への思い
山川晶之 (編集部)2019年09月12日 21時56分
https://japan.cnet.com/article/35142623/

screenshot from the article
screenshot from the article