Mike Ashley forked out a staggering amount of money over the past year with the former Newcastle United owner now eyeing a Sheffield Wednesday takeover
Mike Ashley and Lee Charnley
Mike Ashley ranks among the UK's highest taxpayers(Image: Getty Images)
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Ex-Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley was forced to hand over a colossal amount of his earnings in tax amid his potential takeover of Sheffield Wednesday. The billionaire businessman, 61, made his fortune through his creation of the Sports Direct brand before purchasing the Magpies in 2007.
Ashley's net worth sits at £3.12billion, as per last year's The Sunday Times Rich List. His retail conglomerate calculates that it has paid more than £1bn of corporation tax since 2007, but his HMRC bill has fallen over the past year.
He's still had to pay a pretty penny, though. Ashley ranks ninth in the recently released Sunday Times Tax List, having paid £175.6m last year.
Only eight individuals and families paid more tax than him in the UK. Ashley - who sold Newcastle to their current ownership for reported fee of £300m in 2021 - could be set for a return to football amid reports linking him to Sheffield Wednesday.
The revelation of his staggering tax loss was published a month ago and the struggling Championship side have already been relegated from the second tier of English football since then.
A 2-1 defeat to rivals Sheffield United last week doomed Wednesday to League One football next season amid their financial crisis. It was earlier this week that it was reported Ashley's representative was set to hold talks with Wednesday's administrators regarding a possible takeover.
After the James Bord-led consortium pulled out of a £47.8million takeover of the Yorkshire club, an opportunity for Ashley to end his five-year stint away from ownership could be on the cards.
Sheffield Wednesday's Svante Ingelsson and Sheffield United's Tyrese Campbell collide during the Sky Bet Championship match at Bramall Lane
Sheffield Wednesday were relegated from the Championship last week(Image: PA)
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Former owner Dejphon Chansiri, who was ousted from the club last October after it was put in administration, was directly blamed for the Owls' trajectory in an open letter to fans written by the Bord consortium.
A portion of it read: "We have fondly watched Wednesday from afar for many years. It is a club whose glory has been diminished over the years by poor owners who forgot or intentionally disregarded your passion, your history and your value.
"You deserved, and deserve, better. Tragically, the historic mishandling of the club and pattern of catastrophic under-investment means our sizeable binding bid can no longer be justified.
"We genuinely believed we could play a positive long-term role as custodians of one of the greatest clubs in English football and wanted to help guide Sheffield Wednesday towards a brighter future.
"While we leave this process with a sense of regret, our admiration for the club and its supporters remains undiminished and it will always hold a special place in our hearts." With just a single point on the board after being deducted 18 points, Wednesday return to action on Saturday as they host Southampton.
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