Bet365 founder and co-chief executive Denise Coates has secured a staggering £260 million-plus payout, reinforcing her status as one of the highest-paid executives in the UK, even as profits at the gambling giant fell sharply.
Newly filed accounts show that Coates received a £104 million salary for the year to March, alongside a massive dividend windfall after Bet365 tripled cash dividends to family shareholders. With her majority stake in the privately owned business, Coates was entitled to at least half of the £313.6 million dividend payout, pushing her total annual earnings to more than £260.8 million — a 65% jump from the previous year.
The payout once again puts Coates far ahead of Britain’s top corporate earners. Her annual income comfortably eclipses that of other high-profile executives and adds to an extraordinary £2.7 billion she has taken home from Bet365 over the past 15 years. In 2020 alone, she received a record-breaking £421 million.
The eye-watering payday comes despite a notable dip in profitability. Bet365 reported pre-tax profits of £338.5 million, down 43% year-on-year, although revenue climbed to £4.03 billion, highlighting the company’s continued scale and global reach.
Coates’ latest earnings were secured before the UK government moved to hike gambling taxes, with Chancellor Rachel Reeves increasing levies on remote betting and online gaming. Rival operators have already warned of potential hundreds of millions of pounds in additional costs from the changes.
Founded more than two decades ago, Bet365’s rise is legendary. Coates famously ran the business from a Portakabin in a Stoke-on-Trent car park, buying the Bet365 domain from eBay and persuading her father to mortgage his bookmakers to fund the online venture.