Perks of dating a billionaire’s girl!
Sports Direct tycoon lets his daughter’s boyfriend run property arm
BILLIONAIRE sports wear tycoon Mike ashley has given a top business role to his daughter’s boyfriend.
Michael Murray, 26, who is dating the Sports Direct founder’s daughter anna, 24, is running the company’s multi-million-pound property arm.
Sports Direct was forced to issue a statement to the stock market yesterday, saying Mr Murray is not a director and is not paid a salary, amid concerns about his apparent lack of experience and close ties to the ashley family.
But he could be paid millions of pounds for acting as a ‘consultant’ who ‘heads up’ a team tasked with investing £250 million in new stores and gyms for the £3.5 billion retail empire.
Mr Murray and Miss ashley are understood to l i ve in a £10.7 million house in Belgravia, london, bought with the help of a large loan from her father, the Daily telegraph reported.
they previously lived at a mews house in Chelsea, which was sold for £5.7million in cash in September to Miss ashley’s 19-year-old sister, Matilda.
Sports Direct refused to comment on whether Newcastle United FC owner Mr ashley – who is deputy chairman of the business – had lent money to his daughter’s boyfriend for a property. It did not deny that Mr Murray was i n charge of a £250 million property investment fund at the company, having been brought in last year.
the former nightclub events promoter was first officially listed as a property consultant just three weeks ago – as director of the newly formed MM Prop Consultancy, which is listed at the same accountants as Mr ashley’s business interests. his only previous experience in property was as director of a small development company set up with his father in May 2014, called Central london Projects. In the past year, he has been appointed as a director at several companies connected to Mr ashley’s empire – although none is officially linked to Sports Direct.
he is involved in a company linked to Newcastle United’s St James’ Park stadium, which Mr ashley owns, and is listed as a director at Mash Services – linked to the billionaire’s personal financial holding company.
Sports Direct said: ‘Michael Murray heads up the company’s property team for the UK and internationally, which is primarily tasked with finding new sites for both our larger-format stores and our combined retail and gym units. Michael has a consultancy arrangement with the company (and) is not paid a salary.’
Mr Murray was paid on how much value he added to the company, and i ts non- executive directors had ‘absolute discretion’ over how much that would be, the statement said.
Sports Direct shares fell by 3.9 per cent following news of the arrangement before rallying, on a turbulent day which saw the value of FtSe 100 companies fall by an average of 2.4 per cent.
It is not the first time someone close to the family has had control over part of the business – Mr ashley’s brother John, a computer science graduate, is the company’s It director.
But the tycoon has been largely successful at keeping details of his children’s lives private.
his daughters and son oliver, 25, are believed to have stayed with their mother linda at the family’s seven-bedroom mansion after the couple split in 2003. the divorce cost Mr ashley in the region of £50 million.
Sports Direct made a £5million l oan t o Glasgow rangers Football Club – of which Mr ashley is a shareholder – which helped it to stay afloat during a financial crisis in 2014.
however, fans became uncomfortable with his involvement, which culminated in the loan being repaid last month – seeing rangers regain securities over assets such as Ibrox Park.
‘Shares fell by 3.2 per cent’