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Bet365 boss Denise Coates’ pay from her family gambling empire rose by two-thirds last year to more than £260mn, cementing her position as one of Britain’s highest-paid bosses.
According to newly filed accounts for the year to 30 March, Coates was paid a salary of £104 million.
The betting company tripled the amount of cash dividends it paid to family shareholders last year to £313.6mn, from £110mn in 2024. Due to his majority stake in the business, Coates was required to pay at least half the dividends.
As a result, the billionaire gambling magnate’s total annual payout is set to increase by 65 per cent from £150mn to at least £260.8mn in 2024. His total income from the business means he is paid significantly more than Eamon O’Hare, the boss of London-listed telecoms group Zegona, who received a total of £131 million in 2024.
Coates has made more than £2.7bn from Bet365 over the past 15 years after overseeing its growth into a mobile betting giant. Britain’s richest woman received a record total payout of £421mn in 2020.
His latest pay and dividends were provided before the Chancellor took aim at the gambling industry in the Budget last month. Rachel Reeves increased the fee for remote sports betting to 25 per cent from April and increased the tax on online gaming and casinos from 25 per cent to 40 per cent.
Bet365 has not disclosed how much it will lose from the tax rise, but Paddy Power owner Flutter has said it could take a hit of $540mn, while Ladbrokes owner Enten and Evoke, which is owned by rival William Hill, have put the potential bill at £200mn and £135mn respectively.
Coates started Bet365 more than two decades ago with her brother by taking over her father’s business, which she ran from a portacabin in a car park in Stoke-on-Trent.
After seeing the potential of online gambling he purchased the Bet365 web domain from eBay and convinced his father to mortgage his chain of bookmakers for an initial investment in Internet betting. The business closed its entire high street operations in 2005.
The latest accounts show Bet365 recorded a pre-tax profit of £338.5mn in the 12 months to March, down 43 per cent on the previous year. Revenue increased from £3.69 billion to £4.03 billion.
The group paid out £353.6 million in dividends for the year to March, but £40 million was linked to distributions relating to the separation of Stoke City Football Club from the group, which is now under the control of Coates’ brother John. This left a cash dividend of £313.6 million for shareholders.
Bet365’s accounts made no direct mention of its decision to exit the Chinese market at the end of March. The group does not disclose geographical details of its operations but analysts believed that China’s “grey market” was an important source of income for the group and possibly its second largest market after the UK.
The China exit also fueled speculation that the Coates family may be considering a sale of the business, following media reports that they were exploring a full or partial sale, which could be valued at £9 billion. Bet365 has not commented on the reports.
The family is one of the UK’s highest taxpayers, with Bet365 reporting it will contribute £481.5mn to the treasury in 2025, including tax on dividends. It made charitable donations of £137.8 million during the year, most of which went to the Dennis Coates Foundation, which supports other charities.
