Flashy Ashleys!
Luxury homes galore. Going to work in a £5m helicopter. A £50m divorce — and then a reunion. Inside the oh so bling world of the Sports Direct tycoon and his family
WHEN Mike Ashley met his wife, Linda, a swedish-born economics graduate, in 1986, he was a lowly squash coach working in a sports shop in Maidenhead.
Hardly an auspicious start for a man whose personal fortune now tops £2.4 billion.
But fast forward 30 years and Mike, the tycoon who founded sports Direct and owns Newcastle United football club, has become a notorious and highly controversial figure while raking in vast amounts of money from his myriad businesses.
in that time, he and Linda — who wed in her native sweden in 1989 — have been married for 14 years, separated for 14 more and are now said to have rekindled their relationship. This despite the £50 million settlement when they divorced in 2003. But sums like this are small change to Mike, 52 — as he showed when he pulled wads of crumpled £50 notes from his pockets during a recent sports Direct warehouse tour, just months after the company was condemned for subjecting staff to ‘gulagstyle’ conditions, fining latecomers and paying less than the minimum wage.
This week, there was more controversy as MPs, dispatched to one of his factories to inspect working conditions, claimed they had found a hidden camera planted under a plate of sandwiches in a private meeting.
While Ashley has apologised for past mistakes, with his business practices under scrutiny once again, he and Linda, 50, are nowhere to be seen — recuperating, perhaps, in one of their many multi-million-pound mansions around the world.
And, despite his high profile, little is known about one of the most colourful tycoons of our age.
Now we step inside the breathtakingly extravagant world of the Flashy Ashleys . . .
MANSIONS ON MILLIONAIRES’ ROW
Mike’s come a long way from his humble beginnings in the Buckinghamshire village of Burnham.
He founded his empire with a single store, Mike Ashley sports, in 1982. in 1996, having expanded to 50 outlets, the firm was rebranded as sports soccer and acquired the Donnay brand.
Over the next decade, the enterprise just kept growing. By 2006, sports Direct had more than 150 outlets and owned major brands including slazenger, Dunlop, Lonsdale, Carlton and karrimor.
And its proud founder was raking in the profits. He bought a palatial house near Berkhamsted in Hertfordshire, the site of a former 16- bedroom hotel, complete with heated outdoor pool, orangery and 1.5-acre gardens. The neighbourhood wasn’t bad: David and Victoria Beckham owned one of the nearby estates.
But soon this wasn’t roomy enough for his growing family — son Oliver was born in 1990, daughter Anna in 1991 and Matilda in 1997 — and in 1993 Mike and Linda upscaled to a £5 million house with landscaped gardens, another outdoor pool and staff accommodation in upmarket Totteridge, North London.
After their divorce, Linda kept the home and Mike moved into a 33-room pillared mansion down the road, bought in 2005 for £12 million. The house, formerly owned by pop impresario Mickie Most, has four garages, a cinema and indoor and outdoor pools. it’s now thought to be worth £25 million.
Neighbours — who say the first thing Ashley did was raise the security gates and surrounding walls — are still getting used to his garish Christmas display.
Feeling flush after the divorce, Linda spent £6 million building another house in 2006: a sevenbedroom abode with a cinema, gym, spa, sauna, bowling alley — and golf course out the back.
This, too, was conveniently (if a little bizarrely) located on the same road as the family home and Mike’s pad in leafy North London, where neighbours include Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger and members of boyband One Direction.
she spent another £2 million buying the cottage next door, which acts as a gatehouse to the property, now worth £20 million.
As they rekindle their relationship (they were spotted back together in 2011), the Ashleys have downsized: Linda sold the old family home and put her other house on the market last year.
THE FOUR SPANISH HIDEAWAYS
WHEN the daily grind gets too much, the Ashleys have not one but four spanish hideaways in which to sip sangria. The most opulent is a £9.7 million clifftop villa in the swanky resort of Port d’Andratx, Majorca, frequented by celebrities with superyachts and off-duty oligarchs.
Designed to look like a seagull’s wing from the air, the villa has seven bedrooms, an infinity pool, tennis courts and an amphitheatre overlooking the ocean. security is so tight the ‘fortress’ can only be seen from the sea.
Linda is reportedly trying to sell the house, which she bought after the divorce, to a Middle eastern buyer — but she has another, in nearby Cap Falco, should she crave some spanish sun. The second property, a former nightclub built inside a cave, includes a lift down to a white sand beach.
Mike’s other two properties are thought to be in Playa de las Americas, a lively resort in Tenerife, near the holiday retreats of Penelope Cruz, Jennifer Lopez and Mariah Carey.
OPULENT WINTER RETREATS
IN WINTER, the Ashleys are spoilt for choice. Mike owns two deluxe chalets in the swiss resort of Verbier — dubbed the world’s most exclusive ski resort, with regulars including Prince Harry and Princess Beatrice — as well as a £32 million mansion in Miami.
it’s become custom for topperforming sports Direct staff to be rewarded with a stay at the boss’s chalets, complete with private chef, and Mike, a keen skier, likes to go along, too.
But of late he’s sought refuge further afield, flying to Florida to relax in his eight-bedroomed sprawling villa, located in a gated community on La Gorce island, an A-list haven with private docks and an on- site country club that was previously home to the singer Cher.
Mike bought the property three years ago for £21 million, but has reportedly increased its value by £10 million.
if that wasn’t enough, Linda also owns a lakeside home near stockholm in sweden. The lodge, which the children adored when they were young, was a gift from her parents.
MRS ASHLEY’S £1,000 BEACHWEAR
Mike prides himself in shunning Armani suits for cheap High street tracksuits and carries his mobile phone in a plastic bag.
But Linda, a glamorous property developer and interior designer, is certainly making the most of her husband’s bulging wallet.
Accompanying him to the business select committee meeting to face MPs’ questions about sports Direct back in June, Mrs Ashley showed off her new polished look.
sporting a mahogany tan and freshly cut bouffant blonde hair, she wore diamond jewellery and showed off toned legs in a short white dress and laced ankle boots.
Linda has always been stylish — the couple’s wedding in Gothenburg was a sophisticated affair — but as her husband’s bank balance has risen, she has developed a taste for expensive designer clothes. From £ 675 Louboutin ankle boots to £1,000 Missoni beachwear and £200 Dolce & Gabbana sunglasses, she always looks the part.
Linda’s company, Current Design and Build, went into liquidation last year — leaving her with even more time for swish shopping sprees.
A SPLIT — AND A WEALTHY LOVER
AFTER their 2003 divorce, Linda started a relationship with simon Brodin, 44, a wealthy London businessman whose past girlfriends include a string of pop stars.
Linda moved simon, currently director of five businesses including a textile wholesaler and soft furnishings manufacturer, into her two Totteridge mansions and in 2004 the couple had a son, Tyler.
They separated in 2010 — simon now lives in a £3.5 million home in London — and Tyler, 12, is thought to live with his mother.
Linda was photographed getting into her ex-husband’s Bentley as far back as 2011, but only recently
has their rekindled relationship been confirmed. Friends say Ashley ‘adores her and always has’.
PAMPERED KIDS WITH LUXURY PADS
Much like Petra and Tamara Ecclestone, the cosseted daughters of Formula 1 boss Bernie, the Ashleys’ children, Anna, Matilda and Ollie, lead a life others could only dream of.
Anna, 25, describes herself as a property developer and both she and her mother are listed as directors of a firm called RAAA, now dissolved.
She lives with boyfriend of five years Michael Murray, 27, in a £10.7 million house in Knightsbridge — and it’s he who seems to be the breadwinner, thanks to a little help from Daddy.
This year, the former nightclub promoter was appointed to a consultancy role in a new £250 million property arm of Sports Direct.
Shareholders were outraged by the apparent nepotism — which some said could see Michael earning as much as £2.5 million a year. It’s not the first time Mike has helped him out: the deposit for the couple’s home was a loan from the Bank of Dad.
Like her sister, Matilda, 19, has inherited her mother’s good looks. She’s more of a party girl — enjoying holidays on chartered yachts in the Mediterranean and jaunts to St Tropez, Miami and Magaluf with a close-knit group of friends.
Last year, bankrolled by her father, she set up cosmetics firm Sport FX. Its products — sold in her father’s stores — include £ 24.99 mesh leggings and £9.99 sports mascara.
Though the offices are based at a Grade II-listed building in Burnham, Matilda lives in chelsea in a £5.1 million mews house that appears to be being renovated.
having studied at a trendy London music school, Mike’s son, Ollie, 26, works as a DJ, by the name of DJ Exotica. Previous gigs include playing for Saudi royalty in Dubai, and in 2014 he set up an internet radio station, called Radar Radio. Recent accounts revealed that the company was being financed by loans from his dad.
£1m PARTIES AND A £125,000 BAR BILL
ThE Ashleys love to celebrate their vast wealth, and during their marriage were known for hosting parties at the family home. A former friend says Linda would have a ‘big party’ for her birthday every year. ‘They would get caterers in and have a marquee. People used to crash out overnight on the sofas,’ she adds.
But recently she’s upped the stakes. For her 50th birthday in June, Linda spent £1 million on an opulent bash at her Majorcan mansion. Guests arrived by yacht and chauffeured car, while caterers were seen ferrying supplies up the clifftop.
A member of staff revealed: ‘The finest champagne, wine and food are being delivered. There will be an open-air nightclub for guests.’
Aware of her husband’s love of football (he did spend £135 million buying Newcastle united), Mrs Ashley even arranged for a number of big screens to show England’s Euro 2016 match.
Mike made headlines in 2008 after a wild party at a New York nightclub saw him spend £125,000 on alcohol, including £450 bottles of champagne and a £30,000 tip. ‘The waitresses were amazed when he ordered 100 bottles of cristal and proceeded to hand them out to clubbers and spray them over his friends,’ an onlooker remembered.
Mike is also a keen gambler. he is once said to have lost £1 million at Aspers casino in Newcastle.
EVEN THE HORSES TRAVEL IN STYLE
AT THE start of each working week, Mike hops in his helicopter — a navy AgustaWestland AW109 worth £5 million — and flies to the Sports Direct HQ in Derbyshire.
But not even billionaires can travel everywhere by air. Among his fleet of expensive cars are a black Bentley, a BMW 7 Series and a champagnecoloured Aston Martin DB4 with cream interior, which he bought for Linda as a birthday present. The latter can be worth up to £1 million.
Even the Ashleys’ animals get the luxury treatment. It recently emerged that Mike spent £130,000 on a new horsebox for Matilda. The Equicruiser Super Luxury 7.5T sleeps six, has its own kitchen, TV and DVD player and enough room for two animals to travel.
It’s parked at a stables in Radlett, hertfordshire, where insiders say Matilda — or, more likely, her dad — pays between £800 and £900 a month for her horse to be mucked out.
PS: SPARE A THOUGHT FOR HIS PARENTS
MIKE’S parents, Keith and Barbara, believed in their 18-year-old son so much they mortgaged their Burnham bungalow in 1982 to raise £10,000 to help him buy his first shop.
his father, who worked for a food distribution company, handled the books, while his mother, a secretary, helped out behind the counter.
Today, Barbara, 78, and Keith, 74, still live in the same house. It’s said they rarely speak to their son, now the 45th richest man in Britain.