It’s impossible to talk about Hong Kong media, or democracy, without mentioning Jimmy Lai. This year, Lai was named the 32nd richest man in Hong Kong by Forbes magazine, with a reported net worth of $9.3 billion. Lai’s success story is well known, he was smuggled from Guangdong to Hong Kong as a small boy to work at a garment factory, and then worked his way up the ranks to eventually found fashion chain giant Giordano. The next move for the self made billionaire was to become the Citizen Kane of Hong Kong, establishing pro-democracy Next Media and the Apple Daily newspaper on the eve of the handover.

On the idea of heroism, Lai shakes his head to our charge. “I think I care about Hong Kong, I've done a lot of things for Hong Kong,” says Lai. “But what I'm doing a lot of people are doing also, so you can't have everybody as a hero.” To Lai, a hero must be selfless and completely devoted to a cause which is beneficial to the people at large, a passion he claims he lacks. “I've done [the things I’ve done] because they all came my way.”

“People think I'm controversial,” Lai points out. “I have a media that fights for democracy and freedom, but it's more my conviction than a cause I want for Hong Kong.”

Regardless, he counts the Hong Kong democrats, such as Martin Lee, as his heroes. Of his most influential mentors, he counts free market economists Friedrich Hayek and Milton Friedman, both of whom have busts in the lobby of his Apple Daily headquarters. “I think history has to make heroes more than heroes have to make history. When you're needed by history, by that moment, it will catapult you into heroism.”

 It’s hard to place a man that stands in the middle of nowhere – an unabashed freedom fighter, an outspoken media mogul, all the while remaining a successful businessman. Lai believes that he’s misunderstood as a public figure for this very reason; he embodies one façade of Hong Kong in achieving immense success in business, while simultaneously fighting the very government that allowed him to amass his wealth. “I'm just myself, doing what I think is the right thing and what I feel I like to do, I'm trying to find a meaning for my life, more than a mission for Hong Kong.”

Having received heavy criticism from all sides for using paparazzi tactics to sell papers, Lai defends that this action was necessary to achieve true democracy. “I think if you break down the privilege that a lot of people in power and money assume [they have], you're making a level playing field for other people. You're making rich people common, this is very important. If you're a celebrity, if you're someone in power, if you are in a position to really influence people, then you can't just dress up your good side and hide your bad side. You have to be exposed.”

A true maverick, Lai honestly doesn’t care what people think about him, now or in the future. “I never think about what people think because I'm such a free spirit, and I've done nothing wrong. So why should I care about what other people think?” For the Hong Kong media, Lai feels that democracy – which is he confident will come – will be a great improvement, because it will eliminate the idea of media taking sides based on business – read advertising – considerations. But what will happen when he’s gone?

 “I don't know,” says Lai to the idea of retirement and Apply Daily’s future. “Apple Daily is very much an extension of my own personality. So without me, would there be Apple Daily? I hope so, but I'm not so sure. It's not an easy position to be in, to work for Apple Daily. Everywhere you turn, people are ready to give you a slap in the face. As long as I am here, Apple Daily will stand firm. I will never sell my media or my newspaper, because I know the important role that I play in this scenario. In a way, I'm stuck with this whether I like or not.”

And on the same note of the responsibility he has given himself, you can bet that Lai will stand firm until the very end. “I will not leave unless Hong Kong has democracy, then I'd have the option to leave. I can leave. If there's no democracy, then I'm stuck here to fight the fight.” Bourree Lam

Read the full interview here.