'I'm a let down': Case sheds light on the world of Sports Direct boss Mike Ashley
The sportswear tycoon lays bear some of his foibles in a High Court appearance veering from tetchiness to self-deprecating humour.
Thursday 6 July 2017 17:58, UK
Mike Ashley arrived at court wearing a black suit, white shirt and black tie, and then spent the afternoon talking about a rival called Mr Blue.
It was rather as if Reservoir Dogs had come to the High Court, but with a focus on booze and business instead of guns and violence.
Mr Ashley spent the morning listening intently, as he has for most of this case.
As luck would have it, I sat almost directly behind him in Court 26, watching him fiddle with his tie, yawn occasionally and share a word with his lawyer, Justin Barnes.
But mostly, he listened to the testimony of the bankers with whom he'd shared a pub.
Mr Ashley was prepared. He brought in the following: a spiral-bound notebook, two blue biros, two highlighters (one yellow, one orange), two packs of post-it notes and his spectacles.
Over the course of nearly three hours, I didn't see him make a single note.
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He also had two bottles of mineral water and a small Nokia mobile phone. I know he has a Nokia because he later revealed that he favours one particular model.
When I looked it up, the model was described as being a rather unexceptional, and not very smart, budget design, but Mr Ashley doesn't mind.
He has a box of them that once contained 50 handsets, but now has only half as many.
"Periodically I lose, destroy, damage or have my phone stolen," he told the court. "Whatever happens to a mobile phone happens to mine."
He doesn't need a very smart phone because it turns out he only reads a few of the emails that are sent to him. And he doesn't send any in return.
For all the intricacies of his legal dispute with Mr Blue - which largely boils down to whether pub chat is legally enforceable - the greatest attraction of Mr Ashley's testimony was watching him in action.
A self-made retail genius worth more than £2bn, but who often appears tetchy, confrontational and slightly awkward in public.
And so it was in court.
It didn't take long before the probing of Jeffrey Chapman QC began to annoy him.
Mr Ashley began to speak slowly and deliberately, as if addressing a very small child, before his temper rose.
"Are you trying to be funny?" he asked the barrister at one point, who simply glanced up in answer.
He later answered a single "no" to about a dozen questions in a row, but on other occasions he could barely stop talking, saying that he wanted "to add colour" to the debate.
Take this - on the subject of Sports Direct's share price - could it be easily manipulated?
Mr Ashley held his face in his hands, his spectacles propped up on top of his head, and took in a big breath.
"The City is full of clever people," he said, "and it's all about the numbers." For numbers, read financial results.
"If I've got good numbers I could turn up at a party naked and it wouldn't matter, the share price would go up.
"If I have bad numbers, then it doesn't matter if I sign up for a monastery. The share price would go down."
He swore several times, held his head in his hands another few times, but also earned a few laughs from the court.
Having described the flotation of Sports Direct as "an unmitigated disaster", Mr Ashley (who made more than £900m from the deal) admitted that he had already been "fabulously wealthy", but said money had not stopped his ambition.
"What do you think I do when I get up in the morning? Just go and buy the neighbour's house?" He paused before adding: "I already own it."
This whole case has revolved around questions over drinking, and this was no exception.
Mr Ashley said it wasn't true that he made all his business decisions while drinking "otherwise I'd live in a pub", but did say that he happily held management meetings in a hotel where he would have four beers before eating, and then another two - or half a bottle of wine - with the meal.
He repeatedly claimed to the court that Mr Blue was "a liar", but was also hard on himself.
"I am as fat as a pig," said Mr Ashley at one point.
And in his closing words of the day, he seemed almost wistful.
He said people wanted him to go to thousands of "things" but he always advised his team "don't roll me out".
"I know how disappointing it is when they actually meet me," said Mr Ashley.
"It is a let down. They think 'Jesus, I thought I was going to meet a bright bloke'."
And with that, the day came to an end. Mr Ashley collected his pad, his pens and his budget phone and headed out. I suspect he may have gone for a pint.