Rank #734
Michael Ashley
Net worth $5.7B
Sports retailing · United Kingdom
- Born
- Sep 12, 1964
- Age
- 61
- Source
- Sports retailing
- Residence
- Hertfordshire
- Citizenship
- United Kingdom
- Marital status
- Divorced
- Children
- 0
- Education
Net worth over time
Biography
- Michael Ashley founded the U.K.'s largest sporting goods retailer, Sports Direct.
- Ashley started Sports Direct in 1982 at age 18; it now has some 800 stores.
- He took the company public in 2007, pocketing $1.8 billion from the IPO. That same year, he bought famed soccer club Newcastle United.
- In 2021, Ashley sold Newcastle United to a consortium backed by Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund for around $400 million.
- He renamed Sports Direct's parent company Frasers Group in 2019, after acquiring department store chain House of Fraser.
- Ashley handed the CEO reins of Frasers Group to his son-in-law, Michael Murray, and stepped down from the Frasers board of directors in 2022.
- Ashley played squash growing up and reportedly dreamed of going pro, but his career was stopped short after an injury.
Financial assets
| Exchange | Ticker | Shares | Price |
|---|