Can money buy happiness? A million-dollar experiment from Japan

Businessman and philanthropist Yusaku Maezawa, known for his wealth accumulated in the retail sector, carried out a peculiar social initiative that sparked international debate. In January 2020, he decided to test a fundamental hypothesis: would a significant injection of capital truly change people's lives?

To answer this question, Maezawa distributed 1 billion yen, equivalent to approximately 8 million euros, among 1,000 people chosen completely at random. The mechanism was simple but clever: participants who retweeted his message on the social network X were selected by lottery, becoming unexpected winners of this social experiment.

Each lucky beneficiary received between 8,200 and 9,000 euros, depending on fluctuations in the exchange rate during that period. However, the true interest of the experiment was not solely in the transfer of funds but in the rigorous follow-up of its consequences.

Maezawa was careful in designing a research protocol. He aimed to maintain direct contact with the winners through periodic questionnaires, monitoring how this sum impacted their daily decisions, social relationships, and fundamentally, their level of personal satisfaction. The goal was to gather empirical data on the correlation between money and well-being.

This initiative represents a fascinating case of how the wealthiest can turn their riches into social knowledge laboratories. Far from being a simple charitable donation, Yusaku Maezawa's experiment questioned deep-seated beliefs about the relationship between capital and happiness, generating reflections that transcend the figures.