Jimmy Lai: From Billionaire to China's Most Feared Critic

The Troublemaker: How Jimmy Lai Became a Billionaire, Hong Kong’s Greatest Dissident, and China’s Most Feared Critic

The world's first and most detailed biography of Jimmy Lai!
A moving and legendary tale—
How did he go from penniless to a wealthy entrepreneur? Why did he transform from a media mogul into China's most famous political prisoner?

◎Unpublished diaries and photos, penned by Jimmy Lai's close business partner
◎Amazon bestseller, 4.8-star reader rating
◎Praised by The Economist, The New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal

A successful businessman, a nimble entrepreneur, a billionaire,
the godfather of paparazzi, a leader of the democracy movement, the conscience of Hong Kong,
a living witness to God's grace.
These are the many faces of Jimmy Lai in the public eye, calm yet passionate, pure yet complex.

★★★＿＿Jimmy Lai, a name that represents an entire era.

He fled China's Great Famine at the age of twelve, penniless, yet he built his fortune from scratch in Hong Kong.
He didn't finish primary school, but with his street smarts, he founded "Giordano," pioneering the global "fast fashion" wave.
He mastered unique creativity and business management techniques, developing numerous innovative business models to quickly accumulate wealth.
Moved by the brutal crackdown of the Tiananmen Square incident, he founded "Next Digital," advocating for freedom and democracy.
He was once a media mogul, changing the media landscape of Hong Kong and Taiwan with "Next Magazine" and "Apple Daily," receiving polarized reviews.
Despite being a billionaire, he resolutely took to the streets, leading from the front in Hong Kong's "Occupy Central" and "anti-extradition bill" movements.
He traveled internationally, speaking out for Hong Kong's democracy, only to be arrested and long-detained by the Hong Kong government.
Since 2020, he has been China's most well-known political prisoner, affecting the sensitive nerves of US-China relations, with President Trump specifically calling for his release.
In prison, through his diaries, paintings, and prayers, the reflections and realizations he ultimately gained are a microcosm of Hong Kong's values and democratic will.

★★★＿＿A dramatic legend, the entire book is filled with exclusive, previously undisclosed details!

"The Biography of Jimmy Lai" details Jimmy Lai's early struggles, his rise to wealth, his media creativity, career transitions, and democratic struggles. It also includes lesser-known details such as his rescue of Tiananmen Square pro-democracy leaders and his long-term support for the underground Catholic Church in China. The story is dramatic and deeply moving.

The author, Mark Clifford, a former director of Next Digital and Jimmy Lai's closest business partner, is uniquely positioned to access and cite Jimmy Lai's prison letters, records of important conversations, and interviews with key relatives and friends. He has meticulously woven these first-hand materials into a gripping and rigorously written biography that the world has eagerly awaited.

"The Biography of Jimmy Lai" also includes many precious photographs, including Jimmy Lai's youth, his entrepreneurial journey and family life, his media career, his involvement in the democracy movement, his arrest and imprisonment, and his artistic creations in prison. This material is invaluable.

★★★＿＿Why would a successful entrepreneur who overturned the rules of the game in Hong Kong and Taiwan choose to dedicate himself to the democracy movement?

In the past, the public's understanding of Jimmy Lai mostly came from fragmented news and rumors. However, "The Biography of Jimmy Lai" offers readers a three-dimensional and complete biography, as well as a record of Jimmy Lai's career intertwined with the times. It also reveals Jimmy Lai's unique business acumen and investment strategies, as well as his actions and thoughts on Hong Kong's democracy movement and human rights values.

For Taiwanese readers, "The Biography of Jimmy Lai" also fills an important gap in Taiwan's journalistic history, disclosing the mental journey of Jimmy Lai in founding and operating the Taiwanese versions of "Apple Daily" and "Next Magazine," and how he, with an outsider's mindset, disrupted Taiwan's media ecosystem. It meticulously portrays Jimmy Lai's psychological changes when he once yearned to become a Taiwanese citizen, and the critical turning point and considerations that led him to ultimately abandon his Taiwanese media business and shift his focus back to Hong Kong to dedicate himself to the democracy movement, finally unraveling a long-standing mystery for Taiwanese society.

★★★＿＿In him, you see our inner struggles, beliefs, and desires!

◎ "Jimmy Lai was willing to stand up and was ultimately led away in handcuffs, even though he could have chosen to go anywhere. He didn't have to stay, but he chose to stay. This is a tremendous inspiration to me." – Mike Pence, former Vice President of the United States

◎ "Jimmy Lai knows what he wants to do. Will he die in prison, or spend the rest of his life with his family? That will be decided by the CCP, and Jimmy Lai will have no say. However, whether behind bars or free, Jimmy Lai has chosen a life of freedom." – Mark Clifford, author of this book

◎ "A fascinating biography of an extraordinary man." – Ha Jin, Chinese-American writer, winner of the National Book Award

◎ "An accurate portrayal of the most important political prisoner of our time." – Matt Pottinger, former US Deputy National Security Advisor

Features of this book

1. The first comprehensive biography of Jimmy Lai, a biography of an era:
The legendary figure's complete life story is presented comprehensively for the first time. Written by his closest business partner, it exclusively reveals the legendary story of Jimmy Lai's life, containing the most first-hand personal information about Jimmy Lai, including his early struggles and rise, his path to wealth, his key innovations, and his career transitions. The story is dramatic and widely acclaimed.

2. Exclusive worldwide, full of precious materials:
Discloses Jimmy Lai's prison diaries and his spiritual convictions. Interviews with many key figures, the story is meticulously detailed and written with flowing prose.

3. Richly illustrated, seeing his life and our history:
Includes many precious photos of Jimmy Lai, covering various stages such as his youth, media mogul days, democracy movement involvement, and his artistic creations in prison, providing a comprehensive understanding of Jimmy Lai's personal life.

4. From "business mind" to "human rights mind":
Delves into how Jimmy Lai discovered the enormous business opportunities in Hong Kong and founded "Giordano," and further analyzes why, after the Tiananmen incident erupted in China, Jimmy Lai chose to forgo investment in the catering industry and instead dedicate himself to the development of the media industry.

5. A microcosm of Hong Kong values and democratic will:
Deeply analyzes the true story of how, after Hong Kong's handover, China shifted from "One Country, Two Systems" to implementing the "Hong Kong National Security Law," and how Hong Kong's democratic dissidents took to the streets to resist the CCP's efforts to end Hong Kong's freedom and rule of law.

6. Not just Hong Kong, but influencing a whole generation in Taiwan:
Next Digital once dominated the Taiwanese media industry, and this book for the first time reveals Jimmy Lai's mental journey in founding "Apple Daily" and "Next Magazine." It uncovers Jimmy Lai's true thoughts on why he wanted to become a Taiwanese citizen and how he revolutionized Taiwan's media ecosystem.

Renowned scholars and experts at home and abroad enthusiastically recommend

▷ Akio Yaita │ Executive Director of the Indo-Pacific Strategic Think Tank
▷ Hao Wang │ Author, Host of CTS's "Three Kingdoms Debate"
▷ Shih-Hui Lee │ Professor, College of International Affairs, National Chengchi University
▷ Hui-Min Lu │ News Anchor, SET News
▷ Jacqueline Yen │ Author
▷ Wen-Bing Kang │ Senior Deputy Editor-in-Chief, Wealth Magazine Bi-weekly
▷ Tsai-Ping Hu │ Financial Expert
▷ Qiao Fukuzawa │ Community Administrator of "Joel Talks Japan" Facebook Page
▷ Wen-Cheng Li │ History Writer, Community Administrator of "A Hundred Worries Solved by History" Facebook Page
▷ Li Pang │ Community Administrator of "Li Pang" Facebook Page
▷ Ha Jin │ Chinese-American writer, winner of the National Book Award
▷ Matt Pottinger │ Former US Deputy National Security Advisor
▷ Evan Osnos │ Winner of the National Book Award, author of "Age of Ambition"

◎ "A masterful and insightful narrative that frames Jimmy Lai's story as a microcosm of contemporary China." – Evan Osnos, Winner of the National Book Award, author of "Age of Ambition"

◎ "This brilliant biography demonstrates that Jimmy Lai is a paradigm of the Western world." – Bill Browder, author of "Red Notice"

◎ "A fascinating biography of an extraordinary man." – Ha Jin, Chinese-American writer, winner of the National Book Award

◎ "An accurate portrayal of the most important political prisoner of our time." – Matt Pottinger, former US Deputy National Security Advisor

◎ "Chronicling the dramatic rise and fall of Hong Kong's most famous entrepreneur-turned-political-prisoner, Mark Clifford writes an engaging and meticulously detailed biography." – The Economist

◎ "Reading Jimmy Lai's life story, it is difficult not to be inspired by his generous, fearless character. Imprisonment cannot truly limit him." – Foreign Affairs

◎ "This inspiring biography illuminates Hong Kong's struggle for democracy. It's a charming and courageous portrait of a man who endures persecution like a saint in prison, with humility. This is the best spiritual depiction against oppression." – Publishers Weekly

◎ "From a poverty-stricken childhood during China's civil war to becoming a Hong Kong billionaire, Jimmy Lai's life journey is truly a fascinating saga." – Kevin Peraino, The New York Times

◎ "A compassionate, uplifting biography. It describes a man so utterly tenacious that only imprisonment could silence him." – Tunku Varadarajan, The Wall Street Journal

2025-07-02

明白文化

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