According to Blue, Ashley promised him a £15 million bonus if he could get help get Sports Direct’s stock up from £4 to £8 during a night of drinking in central London on January 24, 2013. Blue evidently did so, but Ashley disputes the agreement as “drunken banter,” and went further to claim that he never would have made such a promise, since he doesn’t think of his wealth or his business success in terms of stock price, even as a sixty-percent shareholder in Sports Direct: What Ashley does not dispute is his penchant for heavy drinking, even going so far as to describe himself as “a binge drinker” in court. No judgment intended here, but you know things have gotten interesting for you when you find yourself giving a rundown of your regular drinking routine like this to a judge: Other aspects of Ashley’s good-time antics have come up during the case, with Blue making claims that Ashley disputes as the former’s attempt to sully his reputation. One such story involves Ashley challenging a junior stock analyst to a drinking contest inside a pub. After downing 12 pints – each with an accompanying vodka chaser – Ashley emerged victorious, allegedly vomiting into the pub’s fireplace, which according to Blue, didn’t prevent the establishment’s managers from cheering his feat. A verdict in the case is expected sometime later this year, after court adjourns on July 19th.
