Bet365 boss Denise Coates earned £280M despite sharp profit decline last year

The boss of gambling giant bet365 took home at least £280 million ($379 million) in salary and dividends last year, even though the company’s profits dropped sharply, according to its latest accounts filed at Companies House.

A review of the filing by ReadWrite shows that Denise Coates received £104 million ($141 million) in salary alone. Rather than being highlighted upfront, that figure is buried in the accounts under key management compensation, instead of appearing as a single headline pay total. The accounts state: “Emoluments paid to key management personnel amounted to £104.0m.”

In addition to her salary, Coates benefited from a substantial dividend payout. The company confirmed in its strategic report that: “The Company declared dividends of £353.6m (2024: £110.0m).”

Bet365 chief Denise Coates is consistently one of Britain’s highest-paid bosses

As bet365’s controlling shareholder, Coates takes home the lion’s share of the dividend. Even using cautious estimates from analysts and past reports, that puts her total earnings for the year at at least £280 million.

That massive payout came even as profits took a hit. The company said profit before tax fell sharply compared with the previous year, largely due to rising costs and tougher regulation in key gambling markets.

Bet365 pointed to higher compliance expenses, increased spending on safer gambling measures, and a more difficult trading environment as the main reasons for the decline. Earlier this year, we reported that the company was even considering a landmark sale of the business for £9 billion ($11.94 billion).

Still, shareholders did very well. Dividends more than tripled year on year, showing that the company continued to reward investors generously despite the pressure on profits.

Coates’ pay doesn’t appear in a standard remuneration table, because private companies aren’t required by Companies House to publish one. Instead, the details are tucked away in the accounts, under notes covering related-party and key management transactions.

Taken together, the numbers reinforce Coates’ status as one of the highest-paid executives in the world, with annual earnings that dwarf those of FTSE 100 chief executives many times over.

Featured image: bet365 / University of Staffordshire via YouTube

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