Did you know that Japan’s youngest billionaire is just 26 years old?
Riku Tazumi has landed himself on the rich lists of Japan with an ingenious niche business that is raking in hundreds of millions of yen each year.
What is it and how is he making so much cash?
In this article, we look at the net worth of Riku Tazumi and his fascinating rise to becoming a billionaire businessman.
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The net worth of Riku Tazumi
Japan’s youngest living billionaire is 26-year-old Riku Tazumi, who is the founder of Anycolor Inc (Ichikara) a company specializing in the super-hot Japanese niche of virtual YouTubers.
He is already on Forbes’ radar and many ‘30 under 30’ lists around the world. Since he set up his company in 2017 aged 21, his clever business has experienced phenomenal growth that has landed him a net worth of over $1.1 billion!
This remarkable company is now the world’s industry leader in VTube, creating and managing YouTube channels run by virtual, manga-style characters, marketing products and services, and raking in dollars!
Virtual YouTube accounts that are fronted by fictitious characters are a globally emerging trend and Ichikara is currently riding the wave by creating and managing these virtual avatars!
A breakdown of Riku Tazumi’s net worth
Riku Tazumi’s staggering wealth comes from the unique YouTuber talent agency he has been running for the past 5 years.
He is the President, CEO & Representative Director of Anycolor Inc (formally Ichikara). This business specializes in managing virtual avatars and AI idols, which are incredibly popular in Japan.
Right now, Tazumi holds a 45% controlling stake, currently worth over $1 billion in Anycolor. This is the source of his wealth.
Other major shareholders in Riku Tazumi’s company include:
- A 5.5% stake owned by Sony Music Entertainment Japan
- A 4.9% stake held by Yuzuru Honda
- A 4.15% stake owned by Skyland Ventures KK
- Chinese video-sharing platform Bilibili holds a 3.56% stake
Back in 2020, when the business was called Ichikara, Tazumi was able to raise more than $6.5 million to invest in the massive expansion of his company, which was already doing well in Japan.
By taking Anycolor to Asian countries including China, India, Indonesia, and South Korea. Notable angel investors in Anycolor include SBI Investment and KLab.
Operating profits of Tazumis company have been spectacular, soaring from $6,364,004 (842 million yen) to $15,872,220 (2.1 billion yen) in just 1 quarter in 2022. The company’s newly introduced English service is also raking in billions of yen.
In June 2022, Anycolor went public on the Tokyo Stock Exchange and instantly became one of its best-performing companies.
Since then, its share price has climbed 800%, taking the company value to $3 billion+ and making Riku Tazumi a millionaire.
Anycolor has managed to tap into Japan’s thriving anime and pop-idol market by generating and managing highly profitable anime characters.
Right now, there are over 140 creators on Anycolor’s books who each work on a different YouTube character’s comprehensive output.
The Nijisanji platform
Anycolor developed its video-sharing platform and app for streaming live 2D characters.
It hosts content and characters from Virtual Livers who can share their content directly and outside of the major platforms.
This growing platform features content creators from across Asia and the wider world who benefit from the accessibility of Live 2D streaming.
Riku Tazumi biography
Riku Tazumi was studying at Waseda University when he founded Ichikara in 2017.
Aged 21, he took a leap of faith and dropped out of college to see his venture through. This was because Tazumi identified the emerging trend of virtual YouTubers.
He maneuvered quickly to establish a team that could crank out these characters and developed channels, platforms, and commercial relationships for managing them. Now he is riding high as the king of VTube!
Investors continue to flock to Anycolor, believing that this is the next generation of talent agencies that have always proven lucrative in Japan.
Riku Tazumi personal life
Apparently, Riku Tazumi got married sometime between 2021 and 2022, but little is known about his personal life or whether he has children.
Facts about Riku Tazumi
- Riku Tazumi’s Nijisanji app is only available for iOS.
- Nijisanji characters Kanae and Kuzuha are two of YouTube Gaming’s most-watched streams.
- The 2D virtual characters are animated using 3D motion tracking of the movement and speech of real-life content creators.
- Riku Tazumi is one of only 40 billionaires in Japan.
Rounding Up
At a young age, Riku Tazumi has proven himself to be an extremely shrewd businessman.
His Anycolor company is dominating a super-niche that is expected to become a multi-trillion-dollar industry in the coming years.
Everyone in Japan is watching this young entrepreneur’s next steps to see what big ideas he will develop in the future.
