Summary

• Billionaire Mike Ashley will reportedly step down from the CEO role at Frasers Group.
• It is speculated that his daughter’s fiancé, Michael Murray, is the likely to be his successor.
• Murray serves as the Head of Elevation at Frasers Group, and is neither an employee, nor a board member.

British retail and intellectual property group Frasers Group plc stated on Thursday that Mike Ashley will step down from the CEO’s role at Frasers Group soon, and the position will be handed over to Michael Murray by May 2022. Ashley will step back from the day-to-day operations at the Frasers Group but will still remain on the company board.

This news came shortly after the group reported an 8.4% fall in its half-yearly sales as well as a 95% fall in its pre-tax profits. Shares of the company also fell by 2%. 

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Who is Michael Murray?

Michael Murray, who is being speculated to be the likely successor of Ashley, is his daughter’s fiancé and his right-hand man. The Doncaster-born executive works as the head of elevation at Frasers Group’s. Previously, Murray worked as a nightclub promoter, and he’s the son of a property developer. He got engaged in the business ventures of Ashley after Murray met Ashley’s daughter Anna in the year 2011 on a holiday in Majorca.

In 2016, Ashley hired Murray to oversee and manage Frasers Group’s real estate activities. Brands such as House of Fraser and Flannels and Sports Direct are owned by the Frasers Group, which were to be overseen by Murray. Serving as head of elevation at Frasers, Murray has had achieved tremendous professional growth ascending through the ranks and has contributed towards the makeover and modernisation of the business, while cultivating a more high-end image of the group with glossy ads and social media presence, which will in turn help in enhancing its relationship with high-end brands.

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At present, Murray has the critical responsibility of the ambitious revamp of the Sports Direct stores and an expansion of Flannels. Even though Murray is neither among the board of directors, nor he’s on the payroll, it is reported that he has accrued more than £15 million in fees ever since he got engaged in Ashley’s retail empire in a consultant’s capacity. Previously, The Financial Times had reported that an independent valuation team is appointed by the board to value all its properties, and Murray gets 25% of the value creation done by his consultancy for the business through property deals, after considering all costs. Thus, in contrast to annual fixed salaries of £150,000 paid to Frasers Group executive directors, he has the prospects of making millions of pounds per year.  His annual earnings are reportedly more than the boss of the UK’s biggest retailer Tesco!

MM Prop Consultancy, which is the firm of Murray, has reportedly received a payment of £4.3 million in 2020, £5.3 million in 2019 and £5.2 million in 2018. Described as ‘property planning and development costs’, an additional £300,000 was invoiced by Murray in 2017. Around £2.5 million was paid to his consultancy firm this year, related to his property services, and he additionally received £100,000 for his elevation work. The Guardian reported that Murray that he doesn’t take salary and there’s no guarantee for how much he may be paid, as his earnings depend on property performance and other technical factors.

Ever since Ashley founded Sports Direct in 1982, his retail empire has been growing and flourishing, accumulating major British brands such as Jack Wills, Evans Cycles and GAME. Starting from a market stall in Maidenhead, he has made it a multibillion-pound listed business today. With encompassing approximately 1,000 stores, the market cap of Frasers Group is estimated to be around £3 billion. After CEO Dave Forsey resigned in 2016, Ashley took over, but before that he was serving as Executive Deputy Chairman of the group, which was known as Sports Direct International until its name was changed last year.

The news of Ashley stepping down from the position of CEO has come simultaneously with unsuccessful attempts to find a buyer for Newcastle United Football Club, which is also owned by him. Ashley has been quite impressed by Murray’s operational skills, as he has developed a reputation as a tough negotiator with landlords. Murray is bright and likable, but he’s also considered as inexperienced as he’s relatively quite new to the business. The moot point is if Murray will be able drive Frasers Group towards a new era at the present fragile time for the high street.