Major UK gambling operator bet365’s co-founder and chief executive officer Denise Coates is one of the best-paid bosses in all United Kingdom. According to media reports, Ms. Coates was paid the staggering amount of almost £200 million and £18m in dividends for the previous year. According to the company’s latest accounts filed at Companies House, bet365’s profit amounted to £525 on £47 billion of bets. The news pushed Ms. Coates in the middle of a social media firestorm as the country faces difficulties to troubleshoot gambling problems.
It surfaced that bet365’s founder and boss has paid herself the remarkable amount of £217 million for the last year. This shook the foundations of the country’s gambling industry to the core as Ms. Coates was reported to earn more than 1,000 times than the country’s Prime Minister. As if that was not enough to add fuel to the fire, Ms. Coates banks more than double the wage of the Premier League’s Stoke City. Ms. Coates commented that she deserves this amount as she maximized the company’s profitability to a record level. The company saw its revenue shoot up over 39% in fiscal 2016-2017.
Ms. Coates has started her career at her father’s betting shop. Shortly after she became managing director of the family’s small betting network, she noticed that the gambling websites’ popularity is increasing with every passing day. Hence, she convinced her father to mortgage the betting shops and establish an online gambling website. She bought bet365 domain online for $25,000 to find herself now in the position of the best-paid female boss in the UK.
Responsible Gambling is the Bone of Contention in the UK
Responsible gambling has become among the major topics to be discussed by the country’s officials. Gambling-related problems have become the Apple of Discord between industry-involved people and various organizations, which are advocating for the responsible provision of gaming and protection of the customers’ interests. It is not a secret that gambling industry in the UK is well-developed and strictly regulated.
More and more people have started to play casino games, which provided favorable conditions for the development of gambling addictions. The creation of a framework that would curb gambling-related issues has turned into a major priority for the country’s government.
According to the country’s industry watchdog, the Gambling Commission, there are 2 million people Britons are affected somehow by gambling-related issues. Speaking of the latest news, the Chief Executive of the Charity Addiction Mike Dixon commented that Ms. Coates is paid 22 times as much as the overall funding of the treatment programs. A spokesman for campaign group Fairer Gambling explained that the industry-involved companies should contribute more to such programs instead of paying millions to their executives, who benefit from people’s losses.
