So what do we know about the man who seems to have the club in turmoil?
He was born 1963 and isa retail entrepreneur, in the sporting goods market, and is said to be worth 1.4 billion.
Ashley grew up in Burhmam, Buckinghamshire, where his parents still live. He has 3 children.
After leaving school at 16, in the 1980s Ashley began opening Sport and Ski shops in and around London. The chain expanded quickly funded by private money, and by the late 1990s had rebranded the chain Sports Soccer and opened over 100 stores across the UK.
He has over 400 UK stores. The group employs more than 20,000 people in the UK.
He paid 135m for Newcastle on 23rd May 2007. Having purchased more than 30% of a listed company (the shares of Sir John Hall), he was obliged to make an offer to buy the remaining shares at the same or a greater price.
7th June Freddy Shepherd agreed to sell his 28% share to Ashley, which left Ashley free to take control of the club.
100% acquisition was achieved in July with Ashley paying a total of around £134 million to buy the club.
After increasing supporter unrest due to the negative tactics and style of play employed by Newcastle on the pitch, Ashley sacked manager Sam Allardyce on January 9th 2008.
On January 16 2008, Mike Ashley successfully negotiated the re-appointment of Kevin Keegan ... saying he was his "first choice" ... when in fact he had previously approached Harry Redknapp at Portsmouth.
Ranked 54th in the 2008 version of the Rich List, Ashley was seen as an intensely private person, who never attended industry functions or gives interviews.
On August 30, 2008, TV pictures showed Ashley drinking a pint of beer in one whilst sitting in the crowd during Newcastle's away game against Arsenal.
Due to a public complaint, Ashley "received words of advice" from the police. A Newcastle United statement declared that Ashley had been given the beer and told that it was non-alcoholic.