Denise Coates, founder of bet365, remains amongst the highest-paid executives in the world. Results published at the beginning of the year reveal that Coates took a salary of £221 million in the year ending March 2023 - along with a further £50 million in dividends.
Coates’ salary, which amounts to roughly $281 million, increased by $10 million compared to that of the previous year, despite the fact that the company reported pre-tax losses of $77 million (£60.2 million).
Coates is officially the highest-paid woman in Britain, and sits amongst some of the best-paid executives on the planet. Of course, Coates isn’t just entitled to her impressive salary, either. She also retains a 50% stake in the business, which generates vast revenues every year.
More money, more criticism
The astonishing success of Denise Coates led to her being crowned the youngest female billionaire in the UK in December 2023. However, some have been critical of the bet365 founder’s salary and other rewards, given the economic outlook of the UK at the moment.
“People deserve to be rewarded for innovation and success but there’s a question of what’s sensible and proportionate,” Luke Hildyard, executive director of the High Pay Centre, said to CNN.
“Nobody becomes a multi-billionaire in isolation from wider society. In this case, the wealth depends on money coming out of gamblers’ pockets, the efforts of thousands of staff, plus wider factors like people having some disposable income, a secure and reliable internet network or all the infrastructure that goes into staging sports events.”
bet365 does contribute to the wider economy, of course. The company, which has a headquarters in Stoke-on-Trent, now employs more than 7,500 members of staff. It caters to an estimated 90 million customers annually.
The Coates family comes in in second place in the rankings of top UK taxpayers, having contributed $585 million (£460 million) last year.
bet365 also contributes to charitable causes, notably the Denise Coates Foundation, which received $127 million (£100 million) from bet365 in 2023. The foundation was created with the aim of promoting charitable purposes anywhere in the world, and distributes funds in support of local, national and international charitable activities.
Coates now has an estimated net worth of almost $7 billion, according to Forbes. But questions are now being asked about whether her vast salary, and its significant increases, will really be sustainable in the future.
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