Mike Ashley (businessman)
| Mike Ashley | |
|---|---|
Mike Ashley (left) with Tup Tup Palace owner James Jukes in 2008
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| Born |
Michael James Wallace Ashley 9 September 1964 Burnham, Buckinghamshire, England |
| Occupation | Businessman |
| Known for | Founder of Sports Direct Owner of Newcastle United |
| Net worth |
 US$6 billion (2014) |
| Spouse(s) | Linda Jerlmyr (m. 1988; div. 2003) |
| Children | 3 |
Michael James Wallace "Mike" Ashley (born 9 September 1964) is an English billionaire retail entrepreneur in the sporting goods market. He is also the owner of Newcastle United after paying around £135 million to buy the club.
Ranked 15th (in Britain only) in the 2012 version of Forbes magazine with estimated wealth of £1.5 billion, Ashley was seen as an intensely private person, who never attended industry functions or gave interviews.Philip Beresford, who compiles the annual Sunday Times list, said neither he nor his staff have ever managed to contact Ashley, and in 2006 described him as "easily Britain's answer to the late Howard Hughes".
Since Sports Direct International Plc 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 Kevin Keegan as manager and the club's relegation, he has only made low key appearances when attending Newcastle matches. As of October 2014, Ashley also owns an 8.92% stake in Scottish football club Rangers.
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 Maidenhead followed by others in and around London, starting with £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 Sports Soccer and opened over 100 stores across the United Kingdom. As a sole trader and not having to file accounts at Companies House, little was known about him. The business became a limited liability company in 1999.
Presently Derbyshire based group Sports Direct International Plc, with headquarters in Shirebrook, Mansfield has over 400 UK stores including the chains Sports World, Lillywhites (acquired in 2002) and Gilesports. The group employs more than 20,000 people in the UK and at stores in Ireland, Belgium and Slovenia. In 2006, it overtook JJB Sports as the UK's largest sportswear retailer. In mid-2006, it was also revealed that Ashley had held talks with John Hargreaves, founder of Matalan 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.
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