Bet365 manager Denise Coates gets ₤ 300m pay package - a ₤ 170m cut

3 March 2022

ByRussell Hotten
BBC News

Bet365 manager Denise Coates took home about ₤ 300m during its last fiscal year - ₤ 170m down on the previous year - as growth stalled.

The billionaire founder of the online betting company got ₤ 250m in salary and a share of the company's pay-out of ₤ 97.5 m in dividends.

Ms Coates, one of Britain's most affluent ladies and a major philanthropist, has gotten a total of about ₤ 1.3 bn from the service in the previous five years.

Bet365 was developed 21 years ago.

Ms Coates and her sibling John took control of a betting shop organization run by their father, finding that online betting might revolutionise the yohaig code industry. She now owns about half of the company.

Bet365's newest accounts submitted at Companies House show revenues were broadly flat at ₤ 2.82 bn in the very first year of the pandemic, compared with ₤ 2.81 bn in the previous year.

Although not called in the accounts, Ms Coates has always been considered the individual described as "highest paid director". She is believed to be Britain's greatest private tax payer.

It's unclear why the pay fell a lot, although Bet365's revenues from sports betting was hit as the pandemic caused mayhem to sporting schedules. An increase in wagering through online slot machines and casinos helped offset the loss.

Bet365 said: "At the start of the duration we experienced the nearly total cessation of sporting occasions. However by the end of the very first half of the year, we saw the resumption of sports with the large majority of European football leagues managing to conclude their domestic seasons."

Meanwhile, operating earnings increased by 47% year-on-year to ₤ 285.5 m, a gain the firm stated was driven in large part by reduced pay packets for directors.

Bet365 made charitable donations, mostly to the Denise Coates Foundation, of ₤ 103m, up from practically ₤ 90m the year before.

Ms Coates achieved a top-notch degree in econometrics and later on trained as an accountant within the family company.

The business owns Stoke City football club, and is based in Stoke-on-Trent.