Sports Direct boss Mike Ashley tells court in case over '£15m bonus promise': 'I'm a power drinker'

Mike Ashley smiles as he arrives at court today
John Stillwell/PA

Sports Direct boss Mike Ashley today admitted he is a binge drinker and told the High Court he "likes to get drunk".

The businessman described himself as a "power drinker" as he was quizzed over an alleged £15 million business deal he made during a night out at the pub.

Ashley is being sued at the High Court by investment banker Jeff Blue, who claims he was promised the multi-million pound payment if he could double the share price of Sports Direct.

But Mr Ashley argues he was drunk at the 2013 meeting, at the Horse and Groom pub in Fitzrovia, because beers were "coming like machine guns" and if he promised £15 million it was clearly a joke.

"I like to get drunk, I'm a power drinker", he said.

"My thing is not to drink regularly, it's to binge drink.

"I'm trying to get drunk - will you accept that? I was drinking to get pissed and have a good night out."

The businessman said one the City brokers they were with was buying drinks before others had been finished and he estimated he had 4-5 pints in the first hour.

"It was a fun evening, we were drinking at pace", he said.

He also insisted that he forced Mr Blue to "keep up" with the drinking because he had organised the meeting.

Mr Blue argues Mr Ashley has a habit of taking big business decision in informal settings like pubs, hotel bars, and casinos, and would not stop working when the drinks began to flow.

He claims the deal was struck in the Horse and Groom pub in Fitzrovia as he and Mr Ashley attempted to woo City brokers into working with them.

But Mr Ashley has dismissed the incident as booze-fuelled “banter” which everyone realised was only a joke.

In lively cross-examination yesterday, the businessman branded Mr Blue a “liar” and told the High Court some of the claims he makes are “total bullsh*t”.

He claimed he would have “rather put needles in my eye” than go to the Horse and Groom meeting, but agreed to give Mr Blue more clout with the brokers.

Sports Direct senior management meetings have been compared to “lock-ins” during the trial, which has heard lurid tales of Mr Ashley vomiting into a fireplace after winning a drinking contest with a junior colleague.

But he said yesterday: "You are trying to portray me as merrily making massive business decisions in an informal setting, ie a pub - it's total crap."

In an argumentative performance in the witness box, Mr Ashley also branded himself “fat as a barrel”, dismissed his own intelligence, and suggested he did not have sole control of Sports Direct despite owning a 70 per cent stake.

"I'm not Obi Wan Kenobi in charge of the Death Star, let's me clear", he told the court.

Mr Blue claims he was given a £1 million discretionary bonus by Mr Ashley after the share price hike was achieved, but argues the £15 million deal was not honoured.

The trial, in front of Mr Justice Leggatt, continues.

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