... the media reports "he remains the richest person in the North East".
But he isn't from the North-East and doesn't live there (and never has).
Yes he owns NUFC, but he owns Sports Direct too, and they have branches nationwide, so he cannot be pinned down to Gallowgate.
According to the 25th annual Sunday Times Rich List - to be published this weekend - his personal fortune is £2.3bn and ranks him at number 31 in the national wealth list.
Ashley’s sportswear empire, Sports Direct, returned record profits of £125.6m for the six months to the end of October.
Second in the North East rich list, with a personal fortune of £1,500m are property and hotel operators Poju and Anita Zabludowicz.
They rank 48th in the country.
Mark Fenwick and family, who runs the department store of the same name, are third in the regional list with £473m while Jonathan Ruffer’s financial empire earned £330m to rank fourth.