All posts tagged: tycoon

French media tycoon Vincent Bolloré casts shadow over Cannes opening – arts24

French media tycoon Vincent Bolloré casts shadow over Cannes opening – arts24

Published by Sam Flores

As the 79th Cannes Film Festival opens on the Croisette, politics is competing with glamour for attention. Hundreds of figures from the French film industry have signed an open letter warning about what they describe as the growing influence of the far right within French cinema and media. At the centre of the controversy is French billionaire and media tycoon Vincent Bolloré, owner of Canal+, the powerful television group that plays a major role in financing French films. The letter, published in French daily Libération and signed by figures including actress Juliette Binoche, reflects wider tensions in France over Vincent Bolloré’s expanding media empire and perceived political influence. Read moreCannes 2026 rolls out red carpet amid AI spat, absence of major US studios The debate comes as international stars begin arriving in Cannes for a festival that will welcome big names including Scarlett Johansson, Adam Driver and John Travolta. FRANCE 24’s Culture Editor Eve Jackson reports from Cannes. Source link

Bang Si-Hyuk: K-pop tycoon behind BTS avoids arrest in South Korean investor fraud probe

Bang Si-Hyuk: K-pop tycoon behind BTS avoids arrest in South Korean investor fraud probe

Published by Daniella Wilson

On The Ground newsletter: Get a weekly dispatch from our international correspondents Get a weekly dispatch from our international correspondents Get a weekly international news dispatch South Korean prosecutors have rejected a police request for an arrest warrant for music tycoon Bang Si-Hyuk, the chair of the agency behind the K-pop supergroup BTS. Bang is facing a high-profile investigation into alleged investor fraud. However, prosecutors have questioned whether his detention is necessary. The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency asked prosecutors earlier this week to request a court warrant to arrest the billionaire founder and chair of Hybe. The Seoul Southern District Prosecutors’ Office said on Friday that it found that the request lacked sufficient grounds to justify his detention and instructed police investigators to strengthen their case. Bang, who has been barred from leaving the country since August, is not seen as a realistic flight risk. Bang Si-Hyuk is facing a high-profile investigation into alleged investor fraud (Reuters) The 53-year-old is being investigated over claims that he misled investors in 2019 by indicating that Hybe had …

Former Hin Leong oil tycoon OK Lim taken into custody at hospital to begin 13.5-year jail term

Former Hin Leong oil tycoon OK Lim taken into custody at hospital to begin 13.5-year jail term

Published by Sam Flores

SINGAPORE: Former oil tycoon Lim Oon Kuin, 84, was taken into custody at Gleneagles Hospital on Thursday (Apr 2) to begin his jail term of 13-and-a-half years. Lim, better known as OK Lim, was supposed to surrender at the State Courts on Wednesday (Apr 1) to begin his jail term. It had been cut on appeal from 17-and-a-half years, with the High Court judge saying the sentence was “crushing” given his age and the likelihood he would not reoffend. Lim did not show up at the State Courts on Apr 1. Media reports stated that he had been hospitalised a few days before. CNA’s requests for comment from Lim’s son, Evan Lim, went unanswered. A spokesperson from the judiciary said that Lim’s counsel had submitted an application to defer the commencement of the sentence on Apr 1. The court gave an extension for bail until 3pm on Thursday. Lim was on bail of S$4 million (US$3.1 million), furnished by his wife. However, Lim did not show up at the State Courts on Thursday either. The …

French tycoon Bolloré to face corruption trial over elections in Togo and Guinea

French tycoon Bolloré to face corruption trial over elections in Togo and Guinea

Published by Sam Flores

French ⁠billionaire Vincent Bolloré ​is set to face trial on corruption and ​embezzlement charges related to election campaigns in Togo and Guinea in 2009, 2010 and 2011, the French financial ​prosecutor’s spokesperson ‌said on Thursday. Bolloré is ⁠suspected of having bribed foreign officials in Puteaux, a Paris suburb, ‌during the election campaign of presidents Faure Gnassingbe ⁠in Togo and Alpha Conde in Guinea, the spokesperson said. The French tycoon had been ​placed under formal investigation in 2018 ‌over allegations his company undercharged for work on behalf of presidential candidates in Guinea and Togo ‌in return for port contracts. Read moreHow Bolloré, the ‘French Murdoch’, carried Le Pen’s far right to the brink of power Conglomerate Bolloré Group, which is controlled and run ​by the billionaire’s family, used to own logistics assets in Africa but sold them to shipping ​company MSC Group in 2022. Bolloré and his family ​also own significant stakes in ​listed companies such as Vivendi and Havas. Two other persons are co-defendant ​in the corruption cases, the prosecutor said, Gilles Alix, who used …

Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai will not appeal conviction, 20-year term, lawyer says

Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai will not appeal conviction, 20-year term, lawyer says

Published by Sam Flores

Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai will not appeal against his conviction and 20-year jail term for collusion with foreign forces and sedition, his lawyer said on Friday (Mar 6), in a landmark case that has sparked international criticism. The founder of the now-shuttered pro-democracy Apple Daily newspaper, Lai, 78, was one of the most outspoken critics of the ruling Chinese Communist Party. A nearly five-year legal saga ended with his sentencing in February following a December conviction on two counts of conspiracy to collude with foreign forces and one count of publishing seditious materials. A member of Lai’s domestic legal team told Reuters his client would not appeal the conviction and sentencing, which drew criticism from countries such as Britain and the United States. “We can confirm we have clear and definitive instructions not to lodge an appeal against conviction or sentence,” he said, speaking on condition of anonymity, but gave no reason for the decision. Separately, Fung Wai-kong, the former editor-in-chief of the paper’s English news section, launched an appeal on Monday against …

Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai’s mitigation hearing set to begin ahead of sentencing

Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai’s mitigation hearing set to begin ahead of sentencing

Published by Sam Flores

HONG KONG: Hong Kong’s High Court will on Monday (Jan 12) hear the mitigation plea of pro-democracy tycoon Jimmy Lai, the final step before sentencing in a landmark national security trial that has drawn international condemnation and could see Lai jailed for life.  Lai, 78, was last month found guilty of two counts of conspiracy to collude with foreign forces under a China-imposed national security law, and conspiracy to publish seditious material, ‍in a verdict that was criticised by the ⁠US, ‍Britain, the European Union and others.  Lai has denied all charges.  US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the verdict showed “the enforcement of Beijing’s laws to silence those who seek to protect freedom of speech and other fundamental rights”.  Lai, ⁠a longstanding critic of the Chinese Communist Party and founder of the now shuttered pro-democracy Apple Daily newspaper, is the most high-profile figure to face ‍prosecution under a years-long national security crackdown in the China-ruled city following mass protests in 2019. The judges wrote that Lai had used his influence and the Apple …