Wads of cash and vomiting in the fireplace: farewell to the Mike Ashley’s ‘just banter’ era
Farewell then, Mike Ashley. The wide boy billionaire celebrated his £55 million profit on the sale of Newcastle United on Thursday night with a five hour piss-up at London’s first gay pub, the Kings Arms.
And when it came to paying the bill, The Upshot hears Ashley displayed one of his trademark acts of generosity – tipping the barmaid a measly £5.
Hardly surprising, given his track record. The tubby tycoon once invited the press for an open day at the Sports Direct warehouse after it transpired he was paying some staff below minimum wage.
Sadly for Mike, things went rather wrong at the security X-ray which all visitors must pass before entering the warehouse. Turning out his pockets, he pulled out a huge wad of £50 notes, right in front of the assembled journos and cameras.
“There’s a lot of cash there,” observed one hack. To which Ashley replied, “Yes, I’ve been to the casino. Please don’t write that…”
But the best Mike Ashley stories concern his blurring of the line between boozing and business. The widely reviled Newcastle owner famously appointed Alan Pardew manager after meeting him in a casino.
And bankers said Ashley would get so bored during client meetings he would “take a nap” under the meeting table and refuse to get up until they “got the drinks in”.
At one meeting, he downed 12 pints and several tequila slammers in a drinking contest with a bank analyst. He then vomited in the fireplace.
During the same meeting, he agreed a £15 million business deal, only to later back out. In the ensuing court case, he told a judge the deal was “just banter”.
Finally, one (possibly apocryphal) positive story we heard about the man. On learning that one of Sports Direct’s longstanding warehouse workers had cancer, Ashley marched into the building and handed the bloke a brown envelope containing £30,000 in cash.
