The paypacket of bet365 chief Denise Coates – who earned more than Taylor Swift – has raised questions over fat cat salaries in an industry where people can be hurt financially
A mum-of-five businesswoman has been paid a whopping £200 million salary by an online bookmaker – making her the highest-earning woman in Britain.
That’s the equivalent of £769,000 a day based on a five-day working week.
bet365 joint chief executive Denise Coates reportedly pocketed £199.3 million last financial year as part of a £322 million spend on top management personnel.
Last year, her salary alone was said to have come in at £117 million.
Founded in a portable office in a Stoke-on-Trent car park almost two decades ago, the company banked a profit of more than £500 million during 2016-17. She also owns half of the firm, whose other joint chief executive is her brother John.
Highlighting how big the paypacket was, the former accountant’s pay was double the wage bill for the bet365-owned Stoke City Premier League football team, the Sunday Times reports.
American pop star Taylor Swift is only estimated to have earned about £120 million last year.
High Pay Centre spokesman Stefan Stern told the paper: “In an industry like gambling, where people become trapped financially, it has to be concerning when the rewards at the top are so high. There comes a moment where some pay packages are so high they become unseemly.”
It has also been reported that bet365 donated £50 million last year to the charitable Denise Coates Foundation.
Many customers of the company probably are more familiar with actor Ray Winstone from the half-time adverts during football matches.
“I really don’t enjoy the attention. The public side does not come naturally to me,” she told The Guardian in 2012. “I’m not saying I’m a shrinking violet. I’m not. I’ve been bossy all my life. It’s just I very much enjoy actually running the business.”
