The billionaire Toon owner is handing staff almost £90m of his sportswear firm’s profits after the business bucked the high street trend.
Retail giant Sports Direct, which has 15 stores across the North East, announced underlying profits of £200.4m today, with thousands of staff in line for a share of the cash.
Meanwhile ... Newcastle United fans have been told the £35m raised from the sale of striker Andy Carroll "has almost all been spent", even though only one player cost the club a transfer fee (£4.5m).
Among the favourites for the British Open, Lee Westwood is sponsored by Dunlop, one of Sports Direct’s main brands, and will get £2m if he wins.
Billionaire Mr Ashley, 46, topped the table of the 10 richest people in the North East in this year’s Sunday Times Rich List.
He took over the reigns at St James’ Park in 2007 and has a personal fortune estimated at £1.3bn.
FOLLOW MIKE ASHLEY'S £2m ONLINE:
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LEE WESTWOOD BACKGROUND:
Lightning learner Lee took up the game at the age of 13 after his grandparents bought him a half set of clubs, and less than two years later, he was crowned junior champion of home county Nottinghamshire.
Lee won his first amateur event in 1990, turned pro in 1993 after winning the British Youth Championship and it’s been uphill from there. During his successful career, Lee has won 18 events on the European Tour and has also won tournaments in America, Africa, Asia and Australia. His Official World Golf Ranking peaked at 4th, and in 2000 he won 7 tournaments worldwide and was ranked first on the European Order of Merit, ending Colin Montgomerie's long run of European Tour dominance.
A regular on the Ryder Cup team, Lee has played in the last six successive competitions. 2006 saw Lee further embellish his magnificent Ryder Cup record when, for the second successive time, he remained unbeaten in all five matches.
Lee has enjoyed a spectacular return to form in 2007, winning the Valle Romano Open de Andalucia and The Quinn Direct British Masters, and is now the joint second most prolific English winner with 18 European Tour titles to his name. Lee ended the year finishing fourth at the Tiger Woods hosted Target World Challenge, featuring the world’s best golfers, and cemented his place in Nick Faldo’s 2008 Ryder Cup team.
Born and bred in Worksop, Nottinghamshire, Lee was presented with Honorary degree of Doctor of Science on November 24, 2007 from Nottingham Trent University. He is also a keen fan of local football team Nottingham Forest.
Lee’s manager, ISM Chief Executive Andrew ‘Chubby’ Chandler, believes Lee has re-established himself among the current golfing greats and is now ready to win a major. Won the inaugural European Tour Race to Dubai, the Portugal Masters, the Dubai World Championship in 2009 and won his second PGA Tour event in 2010 at the St Jude Classic.
On 31st October 2010, Lee achieved number 1 spot in World Ranking.
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