Denise Coates, the UK’s highest-paid woman, received 150 million pounds (over RS 1,500 crore) in salary and dividends in 2024, despite accepting a 45 per cent pay cut.
Coates is popular for her hefty remuneration packages that crossed over 2 billion pounds during her leadership at Bet365, an online gambling company she developed from her father Peter’s betting shop chain.
The British billionaire businesswoman, 57, considers herself an accomplished risk-taker, received 95 million pounds this year and stands to collect at least half of the 110 million poundss dividend, reflecting her majority shareholding exceeding 50 per cent.
The Stoke-based enterprise witnessed revenue growth from 3.4 billion poundss to 3.7 billion poundss in the previous year, whilst reducing expenses and gaining from investment valuations amidst improved equity market conditions, reported The Guardian.
The company achieved a 626 million pounds profit before tax in the year ending March 2024, a substantial improvement from its 60 million pounds pre-tax loss in the preceding year.
The organisation contributed 120 million poundss to the Denise Coates Foundation, a charitable organisation under family and employee control, representing a 20 per cent increase from last year’s 100 million poundss contribution.
Coates is the founder and joint CEO of Bet365, one of the world’s leading online gambling companies.
Born on September 26, 1967, in England’s Stoke-on-Trent, Coates studied econometrics at the University of Sheffield and began her career managing her family’s betting shops.
Recognising the potential of online gambling, she launched bet365 in 2000, securing a 15 million pounds loan by using her family’s business as collateral.
The platform grew rapidly, pioneering innovations like live in-play betting, and has since become a global leader in the industry. Denise is one of the UK’s wealthiest individuals, with a net worth exceeding 7 billion poundss. Despite her immense success, she is intensely private and rarely appears in public.
Through the Denise Coates Foundation, she also actively supports charitable causes, including healthcare, education, and disaster relief.
