Mike Ashley's nine-figure investment in Debenhams will be wiped out after the retailer fell into adminstration.
The Newcastle United owner had hoped to become chief executive of the troubled department store after Sports Direct launched a last-minute, £200m rescue deal in the early hours of Tuesday morning.
The offer, which would have seen Debenhams' lenders agree to write off £82m of its £720m debts, was rejected because it was 'not sufficient'.
Debenhams is now in the hands of lenders as part of a pre-pack administration process to sell its assets before appointing administrators. Ashley , who holds a 30% stake, now stands to lose out on his original £150m investment.
But that is no excuse for the billionaire not to spend money on new players this summer; indeed, Ashley has previously maintained that 'every penny generated by the club' would be available to Rafa Benitez.
Fans have grown tired of that mantra, though, particularly when Newcastle were the only Premier League club to end last summer with a net profit after spending just £22.5m on new signings.
Following their first campaign back in the Premier League, in 2017-18, the Magpies were still counting the cost of a season down in the Championship - and trying to get promoted at the first opportunity.
Newcastle brought in nine new players - Christian Atsu, Ciaran Clark, Mohamed Diame, Jesus Gamez, Isaac Hayden, Grant Hanley, Achraf Lazaar, Daryl Murphy and DeAndre Yedlin - in the financial year ending June 30, 2017.
That resulted in a wage bill totalling £112.2m, including promotion bonuses, which was the highest ever seen in the Football League and was comparable with many Premier League teams that season. Ashley also injected a further £15m interest-free loan in 2017
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The club's accounts stated that £144m was owed to Ashley but in September's Fans' Forum, Newcastle confirmed that the actual amount is 'less than' that figure.
According to the Deloitte Football League, too, Newcastle earned an impressive £178.5m last season, which broke down into £126.4m in broadcast revenue, £28.2million in commercial earnings and £23.9m from match day profit.
Although the club's wage bill has increased - club record signing Miguel Almiron arrived in January - there is no logical reason why Newcastle should again end next summer in net profit.
Particularly when building on that Almiron deal and showing ambition in the transfer market is going to be so crucial to convincing Benitez to sign a new contract.
