Bet365 boss Denise Coates bags Britain's biggest ever pay day at £469mln

Denise Coates, the head of gambling firm Bet365, was paid £469mln in 2020 in one of the biggest annual pay packets seen yet in British corporate history.

The 53-year old earned £421mln from her salary and a further £48mln in dividends according to the online gambling firm’s annual report.

Coates was already one of the UK’s highest earnings before 2020 but last years’ remuneration saw a near 70% rise on the £277mln she earned in the previous year.

According to the HighPay Centre, Coates earned more than the chiefs of every FTSE 100 company combined.

The pay hike came in a tough year for the online bookie as revenues in 2020 fell 8% to £2.8bn due to international sporting events being cancelled because of Covid-19 while profits fell 74% to £194.7m.

Bet365 said it had not cut any staff and did not use the furlough scheme during the pandemic while it had also made an £85m charitable donation to the Denise Coates Foundation.

Coates’ pay tops the previous highest earner in Britain by some margin.

That was hedge fund manager and philanthropist Sir Chris Hohn, who runs The Children’s Investment (TCI) fund and in March took home £343mln.

Story by ProactiveInvestors