The Japanese billionaire who booked a place on Elon Musk's moon voyage has now posted the most retweeted tweet of all time

Chris Carlson/AP

Japanese billionaire Yasuka Maezawa is paying SpaceX to fly him and a handful of artists around the moon inside a Big Falcon Rocket spaceship.

• Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa has surpassed a chicken nugget-loving US teen by posting the most retweeted tweet ever.
• Maezawa's tweet offered a financial incentive for people to retweet it.
• Elon Musk announced in September that Maezawa had purchased a ticket to fly around the moon on SpaceX's Big Falcon rocket.

Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa made headlines last year when Elon Musk announced he would be the first commercial passenger to be flown around the moon in SpaceX's Big Falcon rocket. Now, he's broken the record for most retweeted tweet ever.

The record was held by Carter Wilkerson, a US teen who in 2017 asked Wendys how many retweets he would need to be awarded a year's supply of free chicken nuggets.

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The fast-food chain replied with "18 million," and Wilkerson's subsequent tweet begging people to help him achieve his goal racked up 3.5 million retweets. Although Wilkerson did not hit the target of 18 million, Wendy's acquiesced and gave him a year's supply anyway.

Read more: Meet Yusaku Maezawa, a Japanese musician turned billionaire art collector who's going to be the first person to travel to the moon with SpaceX

At the time of writing, Maezawa's tweet has racked up more than 4.5 million retweets, outstripping Wilkerson by more than a million. The post itself is a celebration of Maezawa's clothing company, Zozotown, making 10 billion yen ($92 million) in sales over Christmas and New Year.

However, Maezawa is operating with two major advantages. Firstly, he is already a public figure with over five million followers, whereas TechCrunch reports that Wilkerson only had 138 followers when his nugget appeal went viral.

Secondly - and perhaps most tellingly - Maezawa offered a financial incentive for people to retweet. He has promised to share 100 million yen ($923,000) between 100 randomly selected people who retweeted him.

Business Insider has contacted Twitter to ask about its policy regarding gambling on the platform.