HONG KONG/TAIPEI — Apple Daily Taiwan, a news outlet with ties to detained Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai, said on Tuesday it would turn off the lights on Aug. 31, quelling rumors of a sale.
Apple Daily Taiwan, one of the island’s leading news platform, is owned by a company founded by Lai and was thrown into turmoil by his arrest in 2020. Local media had reported that Singaporean entrepreneur Joseph Phua was in talks to buy Apple Daily Taiwan, but Phua held a press conference on Tuesday announcing instead the launch of Next Apple News on Sept. 1. The new website will hire 96% of the more than 200 staff laid off from Apple Daily Taiwan.
