The head of the UK betting group Bet365, Denise Coates received payments of £220 million last year, ensuring that she remains one of the world’s highest-paid business executives.
Coates, who is the co-founder and current chief executive of the organisation, which is based in Stoke-on-Trent, has for many years topped the pay lists for female business executives in the UK and has built up a net worth estimated at around $3.7 billion by Forbes.
According to information filed with Companies House this week, which dealt with financial results for the financial year to March 25, Coates’ remuneration was up £20 million on the previous year. The company, which is one of the largest in the betting industry, also paid out £90 million worth of dividends during the same period, a substantial increase of £53.5 million on the year before. Of the total dividend figure, £80.1 million was paid out to just four directors, including Coates, her brother and her father.
Best paid executive
Not only does Coates’s pay award keep her at the top of the list of UK female executives, she also tops the overall list, ahead of Sir James Dyson, who founded the technology group that shares his name. Dyson’s remuneration last year was reported to be £200 million.
Coates figures in lists of the world’s best paid corporate bosses, and according to Bloomberg, she earned more from the company she runs than the $150 million that Elon Musk, the chief executive of electric car manufacturer Tesla, banked. Coates’ earnings also outstripped a number of other high profile executives, including Google Chief Executive, Sundar Pichai, who picked up $144.3 million last year.
Betting industry critics, who have raised concerns about the way that bookmakers approach social responsibility issues, will also note that Coates’ £220 million remuneration is 26 times larger than the total amount of money that the industry spends on addressing problem gambling each year.
