Either you like him or you hate him. Jimmy Lai (
Lai's new magazine -- a Taiwan version of his Hong Kong Chinese-language weekly, Next -- is scheduled to hit newstands on Thursday. The unveiling of the much-anticipated magazine is expected to kick off a fierce media warfare in Taiwan, where more than 6,600 magazines are in circulation.
The reform-minded business leader said he seeks to "make a change in Taiwan's publishing world," and has a target circulation of 300,000.
"The media should follow, not guide readers," said 52-year-old Lai, a market-oriented entrepreneur who has reaped substantial profits by abandoning traditional beliefs that journalism has to focus on objectivity and stiff writing styles.
While many of Taiwan's journalists believe the media should elevate society, Lai seeks to appeal to his readers with sex, violence and scandal. It's a part of his well-known slogan that "the media's goal is not to transmit profound knowledge, but to expose reality" (
Despite an economy hit by recession and an exodus of local industries, Lai has brought NT$500 million in capital to Taipei.
The risk-taking business magnate doesn't worry too much about following the rules of the game.
Having struggled to make his way on his own, he got his first taste of success in 1982 when he single-handedly founded the clothing chain Giordano. In 1990, he established the Next Weekly after the Tiananmen Massacre, when the market in Hong Kong was falling in the wake of the June 4, 1989 crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrations in Beijing.
In 1995, Lai founded the Apple Daily when many Hong Kong industries were fleeing out of fear that China's takeover in 1997 would undermine Hong Kong's autonomy.
Though the Hong Kong elite feel Lai has lowered the quality of journalism, both publications have proved to be hits and have brought Lai both fame and fortune. Lai's media kingdom presently includes one newspaper and four magazines in Hong Kong.
Although being a winner in the publishing field, Lai's investments in Internet publishing units were disastrous. Last year he announced the closure of his e-tail venture, adMart, which incurred a loss of more than HK$1 billion.
Unbowed by his Internet failure, Lai has shifted his sights to Taiwan, though rivals doubt whether readers will flock to his tabloid-style of publishing.
A staunch opportunist, Lai is the best testimony of his own theory that moments of commotion are the best time to enter business, and that the only way forward is through trial and error. "I don't know if I will succeed, but I will try. I see a great chance in Taiwan, so I have to be here," he said.
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