London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Saturday, Aug 22, 2026

The UK's top-earning CEO bags record $422 million payday

The UK's top-earning CEO bags record $422 million payday

Denise Coates, the U.K.'s highest-paid CEO and founder of global gambling business Bet365, took home a record-breaking £323 million ($422 million) paycheck this year.
Coates, believed to be Bet365′s highest-paid director, paid herself nearly £277 million for the year to the end of March 2019, according to the company’s accounts which were published on Tuesday.

This increased from the £220 million she earned last year, retaining her crown as the U.K.’s highest-earning boss.

Coates also took home half of the company’s £92.5 million total dividends, from her 50% stake in the business.

Altogether this worked out at a £323 million paycheck for the gambling boss, equating to £1.3 million per working day of the year, which was widely reported to be a record paycheck for a U.K. director.

Coates’ base earnings were more than 9,000 times the U.K.’s average salary of £29,400.

Forbes estimated Coates’ net worth at $12.2 billion, sitting 244th on its Billionaires 2019 list.

Bet365 saw net profits increase by 18% to £685 million in the year to the end of March 2019.

The company made an £85 million donation to the billionaire’s charity the Denise Coates Foundation this year, an increase on the £75 million donated the previous year.

Coates, 52, has a first-class degree in econometrics, the application of statistical methods to economics, from the University of Sheffield.

She originally trained as an accountant and worked in her father’s betting shops. Then in 2000, noting the growing popularity of online gambling, Coates launched Bet365 from a building in a carpark near one of her father’s shops.

Bet365 also owns British soccer team Stoke City, of which her father, Peter Coates, is chairman.

Her father is also a co-founder of the business, while her brother, John Coates, is co-chief executive.

According to an interview with British newspaper The Guardian, back in 2012, Coates originally failed to get funding from venture capitalists to get the business off the ground. Instead, she borrowed the money from her family and British bank the Royal Bank of Scotland.

Coates said she and her family bet “everything” on the launch of the company, saying they were the “ultimate gamblers.”
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
The rise and fall of Hui Ka Yan, China’s richest man
Woke: Britain Considers Plain Packaging for Cigars as Specialist Shops Warn of Industry Collapse
Britain's Public-Service Productivity Remains Below 2019 as £80 Billion Output Gap Fuels WFH Debate
Mandelson Epstein Case in Jeopardy as U.S. Files Stay Out of Reach
Prince Harry and Six Others Ordered to Pay £9.5 Million After High Court Defeat
Petrol Bombs Set Luxury Cars Alight Outside Birmingham Wedding as Police Hunt Three Men
Bitcoin Surges Toward $80,000 as Short Squeeze and ETF Inflows Ignite Crypto Rally
Prince Harry and Co-Claimants Ordered to Pay £9.5 Million Toward Daily Mail Publisher’s Legal Costs
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Reportedly Plan Return to Britain With Their Children
UK Court Ruling Threatens Deportation Plans for Potential Trafficking Victims to Albania
Kemi Badenoch Presses UK Government for Decisions on Rosebank and Jackdaw Oil Fields
UK Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Calls for Ban on Goods from Occupied West Bank
Andy Burnham Government to Place Civil Servants Directly in English Mayoral Offices
Met Office Warns Major El Niño Could Bring Stormier, Wetter Autumn to UK
UK Economy Gains Unexpected Momentum Ahead of Andy Burnham Government’s First Budget
Twenty-Nine US States Take Meta to Trial Over Alleged Child Addiction on Instagram and Facebook
Former Scottish National Party Executive Peter Murrell Jailed for Five Years Over £400,000 Embezzlement
Moderna and Merck's Personalized Cancer Vaccine Succeeds in Historic Late-Stage Melanoma Trial
Prince Harry and Meghan to Move Back to Britain With Their Children
England and Wales Have Fewer Than 1,800 Prison Places Left for Men
Royal Navy to Accelerate DragonFire Laser Deployment Against Growing Drone Threat
Northern Ireland Approves Five Hundred Million Pound Belfast Harbour Expansion
Great British Railways Takes Full Control of Avanti West Coast as Rail Nationalisation Reaches Final Stage
UK AI Safety Institute Calls for Mandatory Security Audits of Advanced AI Models
Scotland Secures Three Billion Pounds for Floating Offshore Wind Hub in Aberdeen
Government Overrides Local Councils to Approve Green Belt Housing Across Southern England
UK and EU Move Toward Mutual Recognition of Food Standards to Ease Cross-Channel Trade
Government Plans Multibillion-Pound Private Healthcare Expansion to Cut NHS Surgical Backlogs
Bank of England Signals Faster Rate Cuts as Inflation Falls Below the Two Percent Target
Suspected People Smuggler Arrested After Investigation Identified Him
Children's Doctors Warn That Vaping Can Lead Young People to Smoking
Hundreds of Thousands of Students Receive GCSE and Vocational Results Across England, Wales and Northern Ireland
Here Is What Can Never Happen in Your Country: Taiwan Is Giving Money to All Its People Because It Collected Too Much Tax
UK Inflation Rises to 2.9% as Energy Bills Jump
UK Issues New Conduct Guide for Asylum Seekers on Consent and Respect
Moderna Shares Surge After Positive Personalized Skin Cancer Trial Results
UK Markets Watch US National Debt Surpass Forty Trillion Dollars
UK Broadcasters Urge Government to Invest in Digital Participation and Broadband
CVC Capital Partners and Standard Life Launch Two Billion Pound Pension Risk Transfer Venture
UK Private Sector Productivity Growth Accelerates in Second Quarter
UK Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband Condemns Israeli E1 Settlement Tender
UK Watchdog Investigates Trainline, Virgin Atlantic and RED Driving School Over Hidden Fees
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Plan Move to Private Home Outside London
UK Retail Sentiment Improves as Summer Spending Boosts Consumer Confidence
UK Aid Cuts Draw Warnings From Charities Over Humanitarian Consequences
UK Financial Conduct Authority Issues Guidance for Motor Finance Redress Scheme
UK Met Office Launches Aviation Programme to Reduce Climate Impact of Persistent Contrails
Former UK Civil Service Chief Received Record 500,000 Pound Severance Payment
West Midlands to Bring Bus Network Under Public Franchising Model
UK Government Drops Plan to Relax Affordable Housing Requirements After Backlash
×