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Jimmy Lai resigns as chairman of Apple Daily’s publisher Next Digital as he awaits trial for breaching security law

  • Lai wants to spend more time dealing with his personal affairs, according to Next Digitals statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange
  • Lai ‘has no disagreement’ with the board of directors of Next Digital, the company said

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Next Media founder Jimmy Lai Chee-ying on July 2, 2015. Photo: SCMP
Enoch Yiu
Jimmy Lai Chee-ying, who is on bail awaiting trial on a charge of breaking the national security law, has resigned as chairman of the media publishing company he founded to “deal with his personal affairs,” according to a statement by the publisher of the Apple Daily newspaper.
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Lai, 73, “has no disagreement” with the board of directors of Next Digital Limited and there is “no other matter that needs to be brought to the attention of the shareholders,” the company said, adding that the board has appointed non-executive director Ip Yut-kin as the chairman with immediate effect.

Lai, who founded Apple Daily in 1995, was released on a HK$10 million (US$1.29 million) bail on Christmas Eve after 20 days in custody over allegations of endangering national security and fraud. Hong Kong prosecutors plan to file an urgent appeal against his bail release on New Year’s Eve.

The media tycoon has used his Apple Daily tabloid and his Twitter account to call for sanctions against Hong Kong and China’s authorities, according to a document prosecutors submitted to court on December 12. His resignation is seen by analysts a move to draw a line between himself and the publishing empire he founded, currently valued at HK$685 million. Next Digital also published the Next Magazine, which switched to an online version in 2018, ending two decade of its print run.

Copies of the Apple Daily newspaper in Central on August 11, 2020. Photo: Xiaomei Chen
Copies of the Apple Daily newspaper in Central on August 11, 2020. Photo: Xiaomei Chen
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“Lai’s resignation will have a positive impact on the near-term share price of Next Digital, as he has distanced himself from the company,” said Tom Chan Pak-lam, chairman of the Institute of Securities Dealer, a guild for the brokerage industry in Hong Kong. “It is normal for executives of listed companies to resign when they face court cases.”

Lai has been granted bail in three other cases related to last year’s anti-government protests in Hong Kong and in another over this year’s banned Tiananmen Square vigil. He will stand trial at the Wan Chai District Court in February 2021 and at the West Kowloon Court in April.

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