Who is Denise Coates, a British woman who earns more than Tim Cook despite a 45% pay cut? – First message

Denise Coates, co-founder of the Bet365 betting empire, is currently one of the richest women in the UK.

This despite a 45 percent pay cut.

He received 1.5 billion rupees (~150 million pounds) in salary and dividends last year.

The billionaire has made a fortune from her online gambling company, which has grown enormously over the years.

This is all we know about her.

Who is Denise Coates?

Denise Coates created the world’s largest online gambling platform, Bet365, in a portable building in the Staffordshire town in 2000, according to the guardian.

The 57-year-old, who describes herself as the “top gamer”, has consistently ranked among Britain’s highest-paid executives.

Much of Coates’ success can be attributed to his bold decision in 2000 to mortgage his father’s betting shops to start an online business with his brother, John Coates, who is now co-CEO.

His total wealth has exceeded Rs 20 billion ($2 billion) in the last seven years.

It earned a record Rs 4.96 billion during COVID-19 in 2020, when online gambling increased significantly.

Apart from this, the Coates family also controls Stoke City Football Club. Its stadium is named after Bet365.

With a combined net worth of around £7.5bn, his family was ranked 20th in the previous year’s Sunday Times rich list.

Also read:
Quick Explainer: Who is Nikesh Arora, the Indian-origin CEO who earns more than Sundar Pichai and Mark Zuckerberg?

She is much richer than several other global CEOs.

In 2024, Coates earned a salary of 1.5 billion rupees (£150 million) from his company.

Records filed by Bet365 for the fiscal year (FY) ending March 2024 show that the company gave Coates Rs 950 million. He received half of the dividend of Rs 1.1 billion in addition to his salary.

According Fortunehis brother John also received a share of the £110 million (Rs 1,175 crore) dividend payment.

His daily income, calculated daily, is more than 4 million rupees.

However, compared to his earnings of 2,885 million rupees (£270 million) in 2023, the salary represents a substantial drop. The company attributed its recovery from last year’s losses to lower CEO pay. The executive remuneration of the three chief executives, including their father, Peter, was reduced from 3,249 million rupees (£304 million) to 1,325 million rupees (£124 million).

As stock markets strengthened, the Stoke-based company claimed an increase in turnover from 36,307 million rupees (3.4 billion pounds) to 40 billion rupees (3.7 billion pounds) last year. It also announced cost reductions and a one-time gain on the value of its investments.

Even with last year’s sharp decline in revenue, Coates’ compensation remains significantly higher than that of many CEOs around the world.

For example, Apple CEO Tim Cook received $63.2 million (~Rs 5.42 crore) in 2023, which is only a third of Coates’ total compensation from the previous year.

By contrast, Jensen Huang, who served as Nvidia’s chief executive and oversaw a notable rise in the chipmaker’s market value, earned a modest $34.2m (£27.3m) during the fiscal year 2024.

according to FortuneCook and Huang also own shares in their businesses, but they are not as easily involved as Coates in his private family business.

Also read:
How Starbucks’ new CEO will take on a 1,000-mile super commute to work

Their controversies

Coates and his company Bet365 are no strangers to controversy.

In 2020, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer (Labour Party) received a donation of Rs 25 lakh from Coates’ father Peter Coates.

In political circles, this raised serious concerns about the party and its platform.

The company was also fined Rs 5.82 million in 2023 for failing to prevent potential money laundering and failing to ensure consumer safety.

Campaign groups have also taken notice of Coates’ extravagant annual salary and are dissatisfied with his pay in light of the cost of living issue.

Coates’ 2023 salary of £270m drew harsh criticism from think tank The High Pay Centre.
The group wrote last year: “No one becomes a billionaire in isolation from society at large.”

“In this case, wealth depends on the money that comes out of players’ pockets, the efforts of thousands of employees, as well as broader factors such as whether people have some disposable income, a secure and reliable Internet network or all the infrastructure necessary to organize sporting events.”

He added: “There is really no moral or economic justification for such extreme payments and the inequality and division they create.”

With contributions from agencies