Denise Coates had received at least \u00a3280 million in salaries and dividends in 2025, making her the highest-paid woman in Britain. Their business operations are conducted from its headquarters in Stoke-on-Trent, alongside further offices in Manchester, Gibraltar, Malta, United States, Bulgaria, Brazil, Colombia and Australia. It was founded by Denise Coates, who remains the majority shareholder and joint-chief executive, alongside her brother John Coates. The company sponsors the shirt and stadium of EFL Championship football club Stoke City F.C., a corporate affiliate. In August 2024, the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement ordered that the company was required to pay more than $519,000 to customers it had shorted on payments.<\/p>\n
Bet365 chairman Peter Coates was also the chairman at Stoke City and in May 2012 bet365 signed a three-year contract with the club to become shirt sponsors. Bet365 sold its betting shop chain in 2005 for \u00a340 million to Coral and paid off its loan to RBS. The business borrowed \u00a315 million from Royal Bank of Scotland against the family’s betting shop estate which had been started by Peter Coates in 1974 and had been run by Denise Coates as managing director from 1995.<\/p>\n
Her brother John, co-chief executive, runs the business alongside her, with their father Peter serving as chairman. Its product offering includes sports betting, online casino, online poker, and online bingo. Several other cases of bet365 refusing to pay winnings have been reported by gamblers on Internet gambling forums. Denise was again criticised in 2024, after she received payouts of more than \u00a3270 million the year before, including a salary of \u00a3220.7 million and dividends of \u00a350 million, despite the company posting a \u00a360 million loss. Denise Coates became the highest paid executive in the UK in 2017, awarding herself a salary of \u00a3217 million.<\/p>\n