Denise Coates takes a 45% pay cut to £158m

Denise Coates, arguably the best-paid gambling industry executive in the United Kingdom, and possibly internationally, has repeatedly grabbed headlines over the years for awarding herself eye-watering paychecks to an all-time high of £466m in 2020. In contrast, Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO, has a paycheck of $63.2m for 2023, roughly £52m.

The best-paid gambling executive takes pay cut in 2024

Coates has continued to award herself solid remunerations over the years, which used to be the news. Now, though, the executive has chosen to take a significant pay cut, reducing her pay to £158min salary and dividends, 45% down from the £270m she paid herself in 2023.

This comes at a time when the company’s performance has continued to not only be robust – but beat expectations. The 57-year-old who describes herself as "the ultimate gambler" and owns a 58% stake in the company, is taking £94.7m in salary and £64 million in dividends.

For the year ending in March 2024, the business saw turnover increase to £3.7bn, yielding a solid profit of £626m before tax, up from a £72.6m loss in 2023.

Despite the company’s strong performance, The Coates, who privately own the betting company, have taken pay cuts across the board. The company’s three other members of the board have similarly taken reduced paychecks, down to £124m.

There are many challenges ahead of the Coates and bet365, as the United States has proven a particularly difficult market where operators have been crunched by the duopoly led by DraftKings and FanDuel, who have made it harder for other companies to compete locally.

Bet365 is unrelenting in the face of increasing challenges in the USA

However, bet365 has been pushing into multiple sports betting markets in the United States and not showing signs of letting up. This mostly has to do with the company’s strong financial capitalization and the tight control Coates exercises over the company, not beholden to shareholders.

Although bet365 may never quite overtake DraftKings or FanDuel in terms of total market share, the company is confident it can continue to realistically and methodically expand its clout while weathering the regulatory and operational headwinds caused by tighter oversight and higher costs of doing business.

Bet365 has however run into some issues in the United States, particularly in New Jersey where it reached a $33,000 settlement with the Division of Gaming Enforcement for accepting wagers on completed events.

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