MIKE Ashley is a billionaire businessman best known for owning Sports Direct and Newcastle United FC.
The 57-year-old opened his first sport shop almost four decades ago using a ￡10,000 loan from his family.
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Mike Ashley, 57, owns Sports Direct Credit: PA:Press Association Who is Mike Ashley?
Sports retailer tycoon Mike Ashley is a British billionaire retail entrepreneur.
He owns sports brand Sports Direct and in 2018 bought the impressive department store House of Fraser following administration.
In August 2018, it was reported the billionaire bought the high-street preppy clothing store Jack Wills for ￡12.75million.
Ashley owns a ￡5million mansion with landscaped gardens and an outdoor pool in Totteridge, North London.
He bought the impressive home in 1993 after another mansion in Hertfordshire proved too small for his family.
What is his net worth?
Ashley's net worth as of 2021 is an estimated ￡23.5billion.
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He built his business empire after opening his first shop in Maidenhead in 1982.
The tycoon also has a ￡5million helicopter for his commute into work.
How did he amass his fortune and what's the latest?
Mike Ashley was born in Burnham, Buckinghamshire, on September 9, 1964.
After leaving school at 16, he was a county level squash player but after injury he went into coaching instead.
He opened his first sport and ski shop in Maidenhead in 1982 using a ￡10,000 loan from his family, before opening other stores in and around London.
Ashley took complete control of Newcastle United FC in 2007, paying around ￡135million.
The business expanded rapidly, extending to 400 stores across the UK from 100 in the late 90s.
And in August 2018, it was revealed he had saved House of Fraser by snapping up the chain for ￡90million cash.
TYhe tycoon then took over Jack Wills after the brand was put up for sale last month after hitting financial trouble.
KPMG were appointed as joint administrators before the brand and its UK trading assets were immediately sold to Sports Direct.
On October 6, 2021, it was revealed Ashley was closing in on a deal to sell Newcastle FC for ￡305million.
It is reportedly being bought by a Saudi Arabian consortium.
According to reports, the group, which is backed by Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman, has agreed a deal to take the club off Ashley's hands.
Is Mike Ashley married and does he have children?
Mike Ashley married Linda Jerlmyr, from Sweden, in 1988.
The pair divorced in 2003 with a ￡50million settlement - one of the biggest in British legal history.
Mike and Linda have three children - Anna, a property developer, Matilda, who owns a cosmetics business, and Oliver, a DJ.
And it seems Mike likes to keep his business in the family, as Anna's fiance, Michael Murray, was appointed to a consultancy role in a new ￡250million property arm of Sports Direct in 2016.
He also pumped cash into his son Oliver's debt-ridden radio business.