He entered the industry following the acquisition of following administration in 2018. He is also the owner of after paying around £135 million to buy the club. Ranked 15th in Britain only in the 2012 version of magazine with estimated wealth of 1. Since went public, and his purchase of Newcastle United where he took to sitting in the stands with fans, Ashley took on a more public and accessible persona. However, after the departure of as manager and the club's relegation, he has only made low key appearances when attending Newcastle matches. Main article: After leaving school at 16, he was a county level squash player. But after injury, he became a county-level squash coach. In 1982, Ashley opened his first sport and ski shop in followed by others in and around London, starting with a £10,000 loan from his family or £31,500 in 2014 inflation-adjusted terms. The chain expanded quickly funded by private money, and by the late 1990s had rebranded the chain as Sports Soccer and opened over 100 stores across the United Kingdom. As a and not having to file accounts atlittle was known about him. The business became a company in 1999. In mid-2006, it was also revealed that Ashley had held talks withfounder of on both taking a 25% stake in the retail business and installing mezzanine floors in larger Matalan stores, on which Sports World outlets could be operated. Ashley has made his money by buying brands. The first major brand he bought was. In February 2003, Ashley bought the brand for £40 million, followed up by acquiring outdoor gear manufacturer in March 2003, for £10 million, boxing brandmost of these brands were bought from distressed sellers. After considering a takeover, Ashley took a £9 million sports direct england and signed a long-term deal with. In late November 2006, a number of business newspapers reported that Ashley was looking at an of Sports World International. He hiredwho initially valued the group at up to £2. On 31 January 2010, the North East and Cumbria produced a 30-minute documentary detailing Mike Ashley's business successes and lows. Journalist Chris Jackson travelled to Thailand to visit the factories in which Ashley's material for his brand of is made. Neither Ashley or his representatives showed interest in taking part in the film, declaring that the film was producing a majority of inaccuracies. They did, however, state that they would be reviewing the film closely. No further comment has been made. On 26 July 2017, Mr Justice Leggatt ruled that Ashley won a sports direct england court battle over investment banker Jeffrey Blue's allegation that during a 'night of heavy drinking' at the Horse and Groom pub in London, Ashley agreed to pay Blue £15 million if Sport Direct's shares doubled to £8. Sports direct england Justice Leggatt ruled that no-one would have thought that what Ashley said was serious. Whistleblower Ashley turned whistleblower on industry rivals in 2000, handing the Office of Fair Trading evidence of business meetings held by sports retailers to fix the price of football shirts. Ashley attended a meeting at the Cheshire home of David Hughes, the chairman of now bankrupt rival Allsports. On 31 May, it was reported that the Newcastle board were considering Ashley's offer. On 7 June, it was confirmed that chairman had agreed to sell his 28% share to Ashley, which left Ashley sports direct england to take control of the club. As of 15 June 2007, Ashley owned a 77. Ashley appeared to have saved the club from certain financial ruin by paying off large sums of debt inherited from the previous regime, although he was criticised for not doing when buying the club, as he subsequently revealed he had been unaware of issues such as the upfront payment of club finances such as the sponsorship, and the presence of outstanding liabilities for long past player transfers. Ashley's ownership of the club was initially popular with fans, despite press scorn for his unconventional approach, by installing as chairman to run the club, while Ashley acted as one of the fans, drinking in local bars and clubs, and watched the team from the stands with the supporters wearing the team shirt. This caused fierce local rivals to publicly refuse to give Ashley permission to wear it in the corporate box for the on 10 November. Instead of donning more appropriate attire, Ashley chose to take his usual place among the travelling fans for the game. An apparent anomaly with the fans was the choosing 'Smith 17' as the number of his shirt, after a squad player he admired and 17 being a lucky number for him. Ashley's popularity increased further with the return of as manager on 16 January 2008, to replace the previous regime's relatively unpopular choice. A Newcastle United statement declared that Ashley had been given the beer and told that it was non-alcoholic despite the fact that Arsenal do not sell non-alcoholic beer at their stadium. As the transfer window closed at midnight on 2 September, rumours started to appear in the press stating that Keegan was extremely unhappy with Director of Football 's interference in team matters. The following morning Keegan had a meeting at St. James Park with Wise and managing directorit is unknown what exactly was said in the meeting but witnesses saw Keegan storm out of the meeting claiming to be sacked. Keegan drove to Manchester to consult with the chief-executive Richard Bevan, while in this meeting it is thought Ashley found out from Llambias of the row and attempted to contact Keegan. On 4 September, Keegan resigned from the club following days of talks with sports direct england board of Newcastle United headed by Llambias. On 14 September, Ashley made a statement announcing he had put the club up for sale, a day after the first home game since Keegan's resignation, which Ashley did not attend, this was a 2—1 defeat to newly promoted. That is what I am now trying to do. Ashley appointed to take temporary full-time charge of the squad as he began his search for a new owner. In the following weeks, after an apparently unsuccessful trip to the Middle East to reportedly solicit potential buyers, Ashley later instructed a London law firm to handle the sale of the club. Ashley's actions and subsequent media coverage of fan reaction saw the creation of a new organisation, theto properly represent fan's views to any future board. Interest also mounted around the feasibility of a fan buyout of the club, seeing the launch of the Newcastle Fans United group. On 28 December, Ashley announced that the club was no longer up for sale, after he had failed to find an acceptable buyer. In January 2009, it was reported that interim manager Joe Kinnear had been offered a full-time position at the club by Ashley. Kinnear however suffered heart trouble the following month, given sports direct england by the club to recover. On 1 April, Ashley appointed to replace Kinnear as interim manager. Shearer however was unable to achieve more than 5 points from the 8 games he was in charge, and on 24 May, the Magpies were relegated to the. The next day, Ashley apologised to Newcastle fans for the mistakes made throughout the season, but nonetheless praised all staff, including Shearer and Kinnear, for all their efforts throughout the season. After the club's relegation, Ashley struggled to find a buyer capable of providing proof of funds to purchase Newcastle United throughout August and September 2009, local businessman Barry Moat was reported to have opened negotiation talks with Ashley. Mike will put a further £20m into the club this sports direct england. The club released future plans in the same statement, announcing the club would attempt to sell the club's stadium naming rights to raise funds to clear debts of the club, causing outrage among Newcastle fans across the world who felt the club would lose tremendous heritage with the name of changed. Ashley and his representatives refused to comment, claiming the film produced a majority of inaccuracies. On 6 December, Newcastle United sacked sports direct englandin a controversial move that proved to be unpopular with many fans of the club, and led to Ashley being personally criticised for the decision. Following Derek Llambias' resignation as managing director in 2013, Ashley briefly took on his position whilst trying to find a replacement. Lee Charnley was quietly sports direct england as his successor in 2014. On the final day of theAshley gave his first televised interview toeight years after buying the club. He stated that he would sell up, but only when the club had won a trophy, quickly reiterating that qualifying for the would also count. With 's appointment as head coach, Ashley stepped down from the Newcastle United board of directors. Ten months later, and with the departure of McClaren and the arrival sports direct englandAshley gave another interview. He also felt that Benítez was the right man to keep the club in the Premier League. On 11 May 2016, Newcastle United were relegated for the second time under the ownership of Ashley, after local rivals beat 3—0. Rangers As of October 2014, Ashley owned an 8. In January 2015, Rangers fans protested against Mike Ashley's plans to secure a £10 million loan using the as security. All the main Rangers supporter groups have heavily criticised Ashley and expressed major concern and distrust about his nature and purpose of his intentions. On 23 June 2017 Ashley sold his entire Rangers shareholding to and Julian Wolhardt. Personal life Ashley grew up inwhere his parents still live in a modest. The family home was a converted 16-bedroom hotel in. However, in 2016 Ashley and Linda confirmed that they have rekindled their relationship. Ashley is protective of his private life. He is known to prefer casual dress of shirt and chinos or a track suit rather than a suit, and often carries his essential business tool of a mobile phone in a plastic carrier bag rather than a briefcase. Archived from on 11 January 2008. Archived from on 7 September 2008.
