Mike Ashley

Mike Ashley
Date of birth	9 September 1964 (1964-09-09)
Place of birth	Buckinghamshire, England
Occupation(s)	Founder of Sports Direct Owner of Newcastle United
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.

Personal life

Ashley grew up in Burnham, Buckinghamshire, where his parents still live in a modest bungalow. He was educated at Burnham Grammar School.

In 1988 aged 24, he married Linda Jerlmyr, a Swedish-born economics graduate, and the couple have three children. The family home was a converted 16-bedroom hotel in Totteridge, North London. The couple quietly divorced in 2003, culminating one of the biggest settlements in British legal history, with Ashley reportedly handing over the family home, multiple properties and assets with a total worth of £50m. 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.