Mike Ashley's in the money

The former Burnham man turned billionaire owner of Newcastle United may be ready to splash the cash this summer after reportedly scooping just under £1.3 million in a high stakes bet. 

Over the weekend, a national newspaper reported how Mike Ashley, who was born and raised in Burnham, pocketed the massive cash windfall with a single spin of the roulette wheel at a swanky Mayfair casino in London. 
His lucky number was black 17.

Mr Ashley's rise to prominence is a classic rags to riches tale.
The 45-year-old currently stands at number 54 in the Sunday Times Rich List after floating his Sports Direct empire for £929 million last February. 

The self-made billionaire was educated in Buckinghamshire before leaving school at the tender age of 16 to enter the business trade. 
And the notoriously private man laid the foundations for his fortune in Maidenhead when he opened up his first sports shop in The Colonnade during the 1980s.

Last year the shy retail magnet became the latest high profile owner of a Premier League football club purchasing Newcastle United for a cool £135 million.