Kazuma Ieiri
Kazuma Ieiri (家入 一真, Ieiri Kazuma, born December 28, 1978) is a Japanese internet entrepreneur.
Ieiri was born in Fukuoka Prefecture. He dropped out of high school after less than a year and became a "hikikomori" (shut-in), teaching himself computer programming and socializing on a bulletin board system using a computer he received as a middle school graduation gift. After working various jobs including delivering newspapers and graphic design, he started his first company, a web design and server rental firm called "paperboy & co." By the age of 27 he had built the company to have 72 employees and \850 million in annual revenue;[1] at the age of 29, he became the youngest CEO to have a company listed on JASDAQ.[2]
In 2014, Ieiri announced his candidacy for governor of Tokyo. He stated on Twitter that he would run if his tweet was retweeted 1,000 times, and achieved this milestone within 30 minutes; one of the retweeters was noted internet entrepreneur Takafumi Horie. Ieiri ran an unorthodox campaign by Japanese standards, in which he raised \7.2 million in campaign funds by crowd funding and conducted live streaming of his campaign headquarters. Instead of proposing his own policy platform, he set up an online platform to gather policy ideas from his supporters.[2]
References
- ^ 岡田, 有花 (20 March 2006). "ひきこもりからIT社長に paperboyの軌跡". IT Media News. Retrieved 31 January 2014.
- ^ a b Mochizuki, Takashi (30 January 2014). "Twitter Star Seeks Tokyo Votes". Wall Street Journal Japan Real Time. Retrieved 31 January 2014.
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