He is the tracksuit tycoon who made a staggering fortune with his 'stack-em-high, sell-em-cheap' tactics that turned Sports Direct into a retail powerhouse.Now self-made billionaire Mike Ashley has pulled off his most unexpected deal yet by snapping-up posh department store Harvey Nichols.From the outside, there is vast different between the bargain bins at Sports Direct and Harvey Nichols’ luxury flagship store in London’s swanky Knightsbridge. In its 1990s heyday, fans included Princess Diana and other ‘Sloane Rangers’. It was name-checked heavily in the TV comedy Absolutely Fabulous, starring Joanna Lumley and Jennifer Saunders.But the more you examine the deal, the more it carries the hallmarks of others clinched by Ashley, 61, namely a loss-making retailer with a strong brand that has fallen on hard times bought for a song.‌Which begs the question, what will Mr Ashley’s Frasers empire now do with Harvey Nichols, which also has stores in Edinburgh, Leeds, Birmingham, Manchester and Bristol?The message from Frasers chief executive Michael Murray, who is Ashley’s son-in-law, was ominous when he warned: “We are prepared to make those decisions, even if it means a smaller business in the near term.”Independent retail analyst Richard Hyman said Ashley’s reported £40million purchase is likely to have included the huge incentive of the stock - acres of big brand clothing and the like - that came with it.‌“The one thing you can say for sure is that Harvey Nichols won’t look like the same business it does now,” he said. “We really don’t know what he will do but Mike Ashley isn’t about saving the high street, and that can’t be done by one person anyway.“However, it has been clear in recent years that Frasers has been more focused on aspirational retail brands.”Those include its Flannels high street chain, which sells designer gear, as well as Jack Wills, House of Fraser and Savile Row tailor Gieves & Hawkes, three of the many distressed brands Ashley has added to his empire.‌His addition of Harvey Nichols comes as the wider luxury market is having a tough time.Ashley and his management are likely to use the deal to turn the screw on store landlords to slash the chain’s rent costs.The other intriguing factor is the role of Michael Murray, the former nightclub promoter from Doncaster who met Ashley’s daughter Anna while on holiday in 2011.The son of a property developer, Murray, still aged just 36, is the Frasers Group’s chief executive, and seen as one of the architects of its move upmarket. Before taking over from his father-in-law, he was the group’s “head of elevation”.‌Brash businessman Ashley has concedes that his fitness-obsessed son-in-law - who he describes as “the pretty boy” - is more acceptable to luxury brands than a man who once described himself as “a power drinker”. “I’m Marmite - I’m not everyone’s cup of tea,” said Ashley.Ashley has insisted that Murray makes the final call on investments but the tycoon - worth £3.4billion - still holds huge sway and owns nearly three quarters of the group.And Ashley was clearly heavily involved in buying Harvey Nichols, claiming in the run-up to the deal it was in a “death spiral” and turning around business would be a “huge challenge”.He also told the FT beforehand that, were he to succeed, he would be inclined to keep the retailer’s flagship store in Knightsbridge and its store in Edinburgh trading under the Harvey Nichols brand. However, he said some of its other stores would be rebranded as either House of Fraser or Flannels.‌Snapping-up such a high class retailer as Harvey Nichols - even given its battles in recent years - marks another milestone for Mr Ashley, who opened his first shop in 1982 in Maidenhead, Berks, with a £10,000 loan from his parents Keith and Barbara.However, his maverick business style has always raised eyebrows, not least in the City where the group’s track record on corporate governance has been criticised in the past. His ownership of Newcastle United also proved highly controversial.All eyes will now be on what his plans are for the chain, and the future of its 1,000 strong workforce.‌Graham Hiscott's viewMeeting Mike Ashley was - and remains - one of the more bizarre interviews in my career.It was 2016 and the maverick billionaire, who until then had remained fiercely private, was giving me a tour of Sports Direct’s vast Shirebrook warehouse in Derbyshire to try to counter claims staff endured “gulag” like conditions.Here was a man - more a enigma - who had helped shape Britain’s high street in recent years, yet never gave interviews, despite fascinating snippets about unorthodox business dealings.Wearing suit, black and white tie - he still owned Newcastle United then - and hi-vis, he certainly wasn’t lost for words. And in an industry where big bosses are media trained not to call a spade a spade, Ashley was a godsend for any journalist. From then Labour leader Ed Miliband who had who singled out what he said were Sports Direct’s “Victorian” working conditions: “I would love to get him in a boxing ring with a pair of gloves on and box his ears, that’s what I would like to do”, to his frank admission that he regretted owning Newcastle United.‌Six months later I was next to Ashley when in front of other journalists at Shirebrook, he pulled a huge wad of £50 notes form his pocket. Ashley joked: “I’ve been to the casino.”It was around the same time as court case when it emerged Ashley vomited into a fireplace after downing 12 pints during a meeting in a pub. He would also allegedly “have a nap” under the table if he was bored during business talks, a banker suing him claimed.It is perhaps not surprising that, after this brief spell in the public eye, Ashley opted to largely shun outings in front of the camera. However, through this time, and researching how Ashley created his empire, I was able to get a glimpse into what made him tick.‌And it clear that he loves the thrill of the chase when it comes to business, the buzz of the deal, a gambler, but only on his terms. His brash exterior belies a retail mastermind and cut-throat adversary.It would be easy to think that buying upmarket Harvey Nichols is somehow his attempt to buy his way into the establishment. Ashley is no rags-to-riches story, but he has spent his career operating on the sidelines when it comes to the business elite. However, I think that’s just where he likes to be, snapping-up Harvey Nichols is just another transaction that made cold business sense.