In a bold move to dominate North American markets, Bet365, the prominent online gambling giant, has reported a pre-tax loss of £72.6 million (US$93 million). This strategic venture comes despite the financial downturn highlighted in the company’s latest financial disclosures.
At the helm of the enterprise is Denise Coates, who, undeterred by the loss, drew a remarkable £270.7 million (US$345 million) in the fiscal year ending in March 2023. This staggering sum marks an increase from the previous year’s £213 million and cements her status as Britain’s wealthiest woman, a position that reverberates with the financial acumen that’s become synonymous with her name.
While Bet365’s figures may have depicted a dip, Coates’s remuneration remains meteoric, comparatively modest only by her prior standards. To put the numbers into perspective, during 2020, Coates’s phenomenal earning streak peaked with a £421 million salary, coupled with an additional £48 million from dividends, overshadowing the combined earnings of all CEOs in the FTSE 100 Index.
Of particular note is Coates’s earning per minute, which, based on an average UK workweek, stood at an exceptional £237,348 per hour, or £3,955 every sixty seconds in 2020. Coates’s financial beginnings trace back to the modest inception of Bet365 in a portable office in Stoke-on-Trent, proving her ascension to be nothing short of extraordinary.
However, this year, her earnings, while still tenfold that of a typical FTSE 100 chief executive, also drew comparisons to the lofty $253 million pocketed by Blackstone’s Stephen Schwarzman, a Wall Street titan. What differentiates Coates is the structure of her compensation. As Bet365 is privately held, predominantly by the Coates family, her income is significantly derived from her salary rather than share-based earnings.
Coates’s salary also positions her as a major tax contributor, possibly the largest individual taxpayer in the UK with £460 million paid last year. Yet, this contribution hasn’t quelled the criticism by advocacy groups such as the High Pay Centre, which contests that the size of Coates’s remuneration is unjust.
Despite the fiscal setback, Bet365 saw a revenue surge of 19%, ascending to £3.39 billion, largely propelled by the 2023 World Cup hosted by Qatar. Predominantly, sports betting was the leading income generator with a whopping £2.65 billion revenue, complemented by a 31% growth in online casino gaming which brought in £715 million.
In reticence, Bet365 has refrained from segmenting revenue figures geographically, amidst speculations of significant gains from undisclosed markets. Nevertheless, the company’s expansion into the US market is evident with forays into states like Colorado, Ohio, Virginia, Iowa, Kentucky, and Louisiana within the last financial year, assuring investors of the manifold returns anticipated in the future.
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