Bet365 boss Denise Coates’ pay nearly halved to £150mn last year

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Bet365 boss Denis Coates almost halved his annual payout from the family’s gambling empire to £150mn last year, a payday that still cements his position as one of the UK’s richest executives.

Coates – who is the highest earner at the company – took home a salary of £95mn in the year ending March 2024, according to accounts filed at Companies House. £221mn In the previous year

In addition, it owed more than half of the dividends paid out by the UK-based group, amounting to more than £55mn of the £110mn in dividends for the year. This is up from £100mn paid the previous year.

In total, this means Coates was paid around £150m, down from the £270m he received in salary and dividends last year.

Coates has been paid more than £2.5bn over the past 15 years, according to Companies House filings, for his role in overseeing the rapid rise and success of a family gambling empire still based in their hometown of Stoke-on. -Trent

Coates, an economics graduate from the University of Sheffield, convinced his father to mortgage the chain of bookies for initial investment for the online gaming group, which started in 2001 in temporary offices in Stoke. The high street chain was sold in 2005 to allow the business to focus purely on the growing market of online betting.

quotes The business in Stoke has chosen to continue and be run by the family, with more than half of the group still owned by him and another significant share owned by his brother John, who is joint chief executive. Analysts and former employees say the pair — who rarely speak to the press — still oversee most operations, development, legal and financial matters.

The group is the largest employer in the Stoke area and one of the largest private companies paying corporation tax, although many rivals have based their operations offshore.

Bet365’s accounts show that £120mn was donated in the last financial year to the Denis Coates Foundation, a registered charity, up from £100mn the previous year.

The group reported pre-tax profits of £596.3mn for the year, compared with a loss of £72.6mn the previous year when it was expanding into regions such as North America. Revenues up 9 percent to £3.7 billion in the year to March 2024.

During the year, the company said it pursued licenses in new markets with “commercially viable regulations”, licensed in multiple US states and “dedicated more resources to further expand our footprint in both North and South America”.

The group was the majority owner of Stoke City Football Club, which made a pre-tax loss of £30.3mn – up from a loss of £12.4mn in 2023. However, accounts show that it was demonetized in July 2024. The controlling stake is now owned by John Coates, Dennis Coates’ brother.