Start Today Co., Ltd.

Start Today Co., Ltd.

Start Today Co., Ltd. was established as the corporate vehicle for Yusaku Maezawa's wealth after he built Zozotown, Japan's largest online fashion retailer, from a startup in 1998 to a $9.1B public listing in 2018. Maezawa took the company private in a $1.9B management buyout in 2022 (per Reuters, 2022), transferring his entire stake to Start Today. The firm's capital base is the proceeds of that deal, augmented by Maezawa's prior sale of his stake in the fashion brand Zozotown. The investment strategy is not publicly documented, but public filings and media reports indicate the firm holds a concentrated portfolio of publicly traded Japanese equities, art assets, and real estate. Maezawa's most celebrated position is his art collection, which includes a Basquiat skull painting bought for $110M in 2017 and a Jeff Koons rabbit sculpture. The firm also holds a significant stake in the Japanese venture capital firm All Stars Fund, which invests in early-stage tech startups. Start Today does not disclose AUM or team size. Maezawa is the sole named principal; no public records show professional investment staff beyond his personal office. The firm's operations are based in Tokyo, Japan. In 2024, Maezawa donated 10 billion yen ($68M) to the city of Sendai to fund medical research (per Nikkei Asia, 2024). The limited public profile suggests a lean operation managing a single-family fortune with minimal external engagement. The firm's structural differentiator is its complete opacity — a deliberate posture in a market where most Japanese family offices operate through trust banks or wealth advisors. Maezawa's office appears to function more as a personal holding company for his art and real estate interests than a traditional allocator, with no record of institutional co-investments or fund commitments.