Coates and Done were far from the only figures connected to racing whose names appeared in the standings. Owner-breeder Baroness Howard de Walden paid £96m to HM Revenue and Customs, while Lord Bamford, whose wife Lady Bamford is a prominent owner with John.
Born | John Fitzgerald Coates January 1970 (age 51) |
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Nationality | English |
Education | Bristol University |
Occupation | Businessman |
Known for | Joint CEO of bet365 Joint chairman of Stoke City |
Net worth | US$4.6 billion (October 2020)[1] |
Parent(s) | Peter Coates |
Relatives | Denise Coates (sister) |
She still runs the company alongside her brother, and Co-CEO, John Coates. She is the majority shareholder, with 50.1% of Bet365. In the year 2017, she was criticized for paying herself $300 million with Mike Dixon, CEO of Addaction, saying, “It cannot be right that the CEO of a betting company is paid 22 times more than the whole industry ‘donates’ to treatment.”. The majority of those featured on the list paid less in tax than they did the year before. However, Denise, John and Peter Coates – Bet365’s co-chief executives and chairman, respectively – saw their tax bill more than double from £276m when they first topped the list in. John Coates is the co-CEO of U.K. Company Bet365, one of the world's largest online gambling businesses. He joined his billionaire sister and co-CEO, Denise, in 2001 to launch Bet365 after she.
John Fitzgerald Coates (born January 1970), is an English billionaire businessman and the joint chief executive (CEO) of online gambling company bet365 and joint-chairman of Stoke City.
John Fitzgerald Coates was born in January 1970,[2] the son of Peter Coates, chairman of Stoke City F.C. and director of Bet365. He attended Bristol University where he studied Law.[1]
Coates started his career as a lawyer. In 2001, after selling some of their father's betting shops to large bookmaker Coral, his sister convinced him to join her in launching bet365.
John and his sister Denise Coates[3] are co-CEOs of UK-based bet365, an online gambling company, of which he owns a quarter.[4]
John helped Denise set-up the Bet365 Foundation in August 2012 and it has donated £100 million[5] to 20 UK charities to help support projects home and abroad.
Charities which have received funds include Oxfam, CAFOD, the Douglas Macmillan Hospice for cancer sufferers in Stoke, and relief programmes for victims caught in the aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines. University scholarships and theatre donations have also been offered.
In July 2015 Coates was appointed as vice-chairman at Stoke City F.C. where his father is chairman.[6] In September 2020, Coates was appointed as joint-chairman alongside his father.[7]
He is married, with two children, and lives in Stoke-on-Trent.[1]
Born | 26 September 1967 (age 53) |
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Nationality | British |
Education | University of Sheffield |
Occupation | Businesswoman |
Known for | Founder and joint CEO, Bet365 |
Net worth | US$10.2 billion (February 2021)[1] |
Spouse(s) | Richard Smith |
Children | 5 |
Parent(s) | Peter Coates |
Relatives | John Coates (brother) |
Denise CoatesCBE (born 26 September 1967) is a British billionaire businesswoman, the founder and joint chief executive of online gambling company Bet365.[2]
In October 2019, Forbes magazine estimated Coates's net worth at $12.2 billion.[3] In 2018, Coates was paid a £323 million, which included a 50 per cent share of a £92.5m company dividend.[4] As of 2019, Coates is the highest paid chief executive of any UK company and one of the wealthiest woman in Britain according to the Sunday Times Rich list.[4][5]
Denise Coates was born the eldest daughter of Peter Coates, chairman of Stoke City F.C. and a director of Bet365. She earned a first class degree in econometrics from the University of Sheffield.[6]
While at school, Coates started work in the cashiers' department of Provincial Racing, a bookmaking firm owned by her family. After leaving university, she continued to work at Provincial Racing, as an accountant. Following this, Coates became managing director over the small chain of shops in 1995. That same year, Coates obtained a loan from Barclays to acquire a neighbouring chain.[7]
In January 2000, Coates purchased the domain name Bet365.com.[8] Bet365.com was launched in 2001 as an online betting site. The business borrowed £15 million from RBS against the family's betting shop estate. In 2005, these shops were sold to Coral for £40 million, which allowed Coates to pay off the loan to RBS.
As of 2016, Bet365 is one of the world's largest online gambling companies, with $2 billion in revenues and facilitating $45 billion in yearly bets. The company also owns a majority stake in Stoke City Football Club. In 2015, Bet365 moved its headquarters from Stoke to Gibraltar because of its favourable regulations. Coates still runs the company alongside her brother, and co-CEO, John Coates.[9]
Coates is the majority shareholder with 50.01% of Bet365. Her personal fortune is estimated at $12 billion, as of December 2019.[1]
In 2017, Coates was criticised for paying herself £217 million, with Mike Dixon, CEO of Addaction, saying 'It cannot be right that the CEO of a betting company is paid 22 times more than the whole industry ‘donates’ to treatment.'[10] In 2018, it was announced that her salary had increased to £265 million, around 9,500 times more than the average UK salary, with Luke Hildyard of the High Pay Centre commenting, 'Obviously, people who build successful companies need to be rewarded for their hard work, but this is an obscene amount of money for someone who is already a billionaire. It's weird to think that someone so rich would want to get their hands on even more, rather than put it to a more useful purpose.'[11]
Coates set up the Bet365 Foundation in August 2012, and in February 2016 it was renamed to Denise Coates Foundation. It is a registered charity under English law[12] and it donated £100 million[13] to twenty UK charities as of 2014.
Charities which have received funds include Oxfam, CAFOD, the Douglas Macmillan Hospice for cancer sufferers in Stoke, and relief programmes for victims caught in the aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines. University scholarships and theatre donations have also been offered.[14][15]
The Foundation pledged £230,000[16] to St Joseph's College, in Trent Vale, for the school's work to help support vulnerable young people in Bo, Sierra Leone.
In March 2020 the foundation granted £235,000 to The New Vic Theatre in Newcastle-under-Lyme for essential refurbishment and redevelopment.[17][18]
In April 2020, Coates donated £10 million through her foundation to University Hospitals of North Midlands to support staff fighting coronavirus.[19]
Coates is married to Richard Smith, and they live in Betchton near Sandbach, Cheshire.[6][10] She drives an Aston Martin with personalised number plates bearing her initials.[8]
They have five children, including four that in March 2014 were reported as being 'recently adopted from the same family'.[7][1][20]
In January 2012, Coates was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for services to the community and business.[21] In 2012, she received an honorary doctorate from Staffordshire University.[6]
In 2013, Coates was named as one of the 100 most powerful women in the UK by Woman's Hour on BBC Radio 4.[22]
In 2019, Coates was inducted to the Sports Betting Hall of Fame run by Sports Betting Community (SBC) for her leadership in the gambling industry.[23]