Bets boss’ £265m pay
Billionaire’s all-time record annual earnings condemned as ‘obscene’
THE billionaire founder of bookmaker Bet365 paid herself £265million last year – a record for the boss of a UK firm.
Denise Coates, 51, pocketed the huge sum through a combination of pay and dividends. It equates to £726,000 a day and is on top of the £217million she got the year before. Luke Hildyard, director of think-tank the High Pay Centre, said: “Why does a billionaire need to take such an obscene amount of money out of their company? It is difficult to find a reason beyond pure greed.” Ms Coates’ brother John, dad Peter and another Bet365 director shared a total of £321.6million, figures filed at Companies House reveal. Profits at the online bookie, which owns Stoke City, rose to £660million in the 12 months to April this year. It comes as a report out yesterday revealed the number of children classed as problem gamblers quadrupled to 55,000 in the past two years.
The Gambling Commission also found 450,000 children aged 11 to 16 bet regularly, staking an average of £16 per week.