Lai's Great Escape: How the Tycoon Stashed His Fortune Before the Freeze

Jimmy Lai operates like a gambler. The media mogul is arrogant, reckless, and dangerously addicted to risk. But make no mistake: beneath that bravado lies a calculating businessman who, when staring down catastrophe, always leaves himself a few escape hatches.

In mid-May 2021, authorities revoked his bail and threw him back behind bars. The Security Bureau moved swiftly, freezing his stake in Next Digital and locking down the bank accounts of three companies he controlled. But according to Mark Clifford, Lai's longtime ally, the tycoon had already spirited away $69 million—about HK$540 million—out of Hong Kong before the net closed. That cash pile now sits in a portfolio of US tech stocks, including Microsoft and Nvidia, and its current whereabouts remain a mystery.

Mark Clifford, Lai's closest ally, reveals in his biography that before the asset freeze hit, Lai secretly moved HK$540 million out of Hong Kong—routing it through Singapore to Taiwan and loading up on a basket of US tech stocks.

The moves didn't stop there. Around March 2022, companies linked to Lai transferred a batch of luxury apartments in Taipei to his wife, Teresa Lai, and his son, Sebastien Lai. The total value? Hundreds of millions of Hong Kong dollars. The timing screams risk mitigation. And most observers believe these disclosed assets represent just the tip of the iceberg. How much wealth does Lai still control today? That remains anyone's guess.

When the Security Bureau froze Lai's assets that year, officials fired off letters to every relevant bank, warning them to sever all dealings with his accounts or face legal consequences. The message was clear: the authorities were moving fast to plug the channels Lai might use to funnel money offshore and block any further asset transfers.

The Offshore Shuffle

But Lai likely saw it coming. Before the freeze landed, he had already launched his capital flight operation, quietly shifting chunks of his fortune beyond Hong Kong's reach. Veteran media figure Chow Yung unearthed the details buried in Clifford's biography of Lai. The book reveals that Lai moved $69 million—roughly HK$540 million—first to Singapore, then onward to Taiwan. Where the money ended up from there? The book doesn't say.

On Lai's instructions, $57 million of that stash—about HK$440 million—went straight into ten US stocks, mostly tech names. Microsoft and Nvidia topped the shopping list. Chow ran a back-of-the-envelope calculation comparing purchase prices to current valuations. If Lai hasn't cashed out, those holdings have more than doubled.

Clifford also disclosed that another $17 million was earmarked specifically for legal battles. Translation: the lawyers will be paid in full, and for whatever firm landed that retainer, it's a massive payday.

The Taiwan Property Play

During the same period, Lai was busy offloading or transferring his Taiwan properties—mostly high-end luxury homes. According to Taiwanese media investigations, he began systematically disposing of these holdings starting in early 2022. First to go: a luxury villa on Yangmingshan, sold to Koo Kwang-ming, a senior Democratic Progressive Party figure and "Taiwan independence" advocate.

Then in March 2022, Lai transferred a luxury unit in Taipei's Da'an District to a company called "Kowloon Land" for NT$390 million—about HK$100 million. The buyer turned out to be a company owned by his wife, Teresa Lai.

By September, Lai sold another Taipei luxury property to Victoria Harbour Limited, a company registered in his son Sebastien Lai's name. At the same time, he changed the registered addresses of several property-holding companies to a specific Taipei location—which just happens to be Victoria Harbour Limited's registered address. The pattern is unmistakable: Lai was systematically transferring a portfolio of properties to Sebastien. Each property carried an estimated value between HK$68 million and HK$82 million. Add them up? You're looking at several hundred million Hong Kong dollars.

Starting in early 2022, Lai systematically sold off a collection of luxury properties in Taipei, with several transferred to companies held by his wife Teresa Lai (pictured) and his eldest son Sebastien Lai—a textbook asset-shifting maneuver designed to hedge against risk.

The Mystery Fortune

But this represents only the visible slice of Lai's holdings. He also established a company in Canada called Lais Hotel, which owns several resort properties managed by his sister. On top of that, he holds residential properties in Paris and Kyoto that he previously used to host friends. Their current status? Unknown.

The evidence shows that before and after his arrest, Lai executed a systematic plan to shift his assets out of Hong Kong and Taiwan. Some now belong to his wife, children, and other relatives. The remainder likely stays under his indirect control through other corporate entities. Total estimate? Around HK$1 billion.

Which raises a crucial question: For years, Lai poured enormous sums into the opposition camp and into elements disrupting Hong Kong. And in its final years, Next Digital was barely profitable. So how does he still command such substantial wealth? Is there hidden financial dealing with foreign forces lurking in the background? That puzzle deserves continued investigation.

Lai Ting-yiu


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The US–Iran war keeps everyone guessing. American forces made a show of force by blockading the Strait of Hormuz, with combat seemingly on the verge of breaking out — yet Trump suddenly shifted to a softer tone, suggesting both sides could return to the negotiating table within days and that extending the two-week ceasefire wasn't necessary. A deal may be within reach. But given his habit of reversing course, everyone would do well to wait and see before celebrating. While the Iranian situation churns with uncertainty, Ukraine's plight has quietly been forgotten — President Zelensky left to wither alone.

In an interview with German broadcaster ZDF, Zelensky made no effort to hide his distress. Since America launched its campaign against Iran, he said, Washington has completely lost interest in Ukraine. Not only have negotiations ground to a halt, but arms and military equipment deliveries have abruptly stopped — precisely as Russian forces are pressing their offensive hard, leaving Ukraine in a dangerously exposed position.

Iran stole America's attention — and Ukraine paid the price. Talks frozen, arms cut off, Zelensky vents to German TV.

For the first time, Zelensky has come to understand that America, for all its self-image as a superpower, simply cannot stretch across multiple fronts without showing its limits. When the "big boss" proves unreliable, the "junior partner" is left to fend for itself.

Washington's Attention Has Shifted

Zelensky has had his fill of being sidelined, and the bitterness has finally spilled over. He told ZDF that after the Iran war began, America's focus visibly shifted. Special Envoy Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law Kushner — the two men who had been mediating between Washington and Moscow — are now "constantly in talks with Iran," leaving no bandwidth for Ukraine. As a result, peace talks between Russia and Ukraine have been frozen since late February, with no timeline in sight for their resumption.

What makes matters worse is that Trump, already overwhelmed by the Iran campaign, has quietly shelved the Russia-Ukraine file and stopped pressing Putin. Zelensky warned that without pressure, Russia has nothing to fear and will act with impunity. Putin has clearly read the situation. After a 32-hour Orthodox Easter ceasefire, Russian forces resumed their offensive immediately, seizing the opportunity to push for an advantage.

The Air Defence Crisis

The bigger crisis isn't the stalled talks — it's the weapons shortage. Zelensky pointed out that US military aid deliveries have slowed to a crawl, with air defence systems the most acute problem. Supplies of PAC-3 and PAC-2 interceptor missiles have shown serious gaps, and Ukraine could soon be left effectively "undefended," forced to watch helplessly as Russian missiles and drones fly in unchallenged.

Ukraine's air defences are running on empty. Interceptor missiles are critically short, and Russian strikes keep coming.

The reason Washington cannot deliver comes down to the Iran campaign itself. Since the war began, Iran has fired multiple missiles and drones at US military bases in Gulf states and at Israel. American forces have burned through enormous quantities of interceptor missiles countering these attacks, stockpiles are nearly depleted, and replenishment has no quick fix. The only option has been to rob Peter to pay Paul — redirecting air defence equipment destined for other countries to the Middle East, with Ukraine inevitably caught in the fallout.

Watching this crisis unfold, Zelensky is in a panic. Unless a US–Iran ceasefire materialises, there is little hope of American arms deliveries resuming. Ukraine has been forced to rely on itself, rushing to produce its own "FP-5 Flamingo" air defence missiles as a stopgap — though even that amounts to a distant rainstorm that cannot quench today's fire.

Adding insult to injury, Trump — in a bid to boost global oil supply and hold down rising prices — granted a 30-day sanctions waiver on Russia, allowing countries worldwide to purchase Russian oil and natural gas. The result: Russia pocketed an effortless €6 billion, turning the war into a windfall that helps fund its military campaign against Ukraine.

America Stepping Back From Europe

The "big boss" cooling on Zelensky is not entirely a matter of bandwidth. It also reflects a deliberate intent to distance America from Europe and leave the continent to clean up the Ukrainian mess on its own.

A recent development makes this attitude plain. According to Politico, War Secretary Hegseth will skip Wednesday's meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group — a forum that brings together defence ministers from over 50 pro-Ukraine nations — sending Pentagon policy chief Elbridge Colby in his place. Hegseth's snub signals clearly that the Trump administration no longer treats Ukraine as a priority.

Zelensky's predicament is a tragedy largely of his own making. He placed too much faith in the American "big boss," believing that with Washington firmly in his corner, he could go all-in against Russia. Today, he has finally learned the hard way: this "big boss" cannot manage multiple wars at once. Bogged down in Iran, America has no capacity left to care whether its "junior partner" sinks or swims.

Lai Ting-yiu