Everyone knows that the chances of getting rich from gambling are infinitesimally small. We all know that while we might dream of winning big on the slots or cleaning up on a sporting bet, we almost certainly will not. Gambling is a form of entertainment. The anticipation between the bet being placed and the result becoming clear is what makes it so thrilling. There is the wild dopamine rush and fantastical dreams of what we might do when we win, and then the almost inevitable crash landing as the reels stop spinning or the horse we did not back crosses the line.
The fact that gambling is a risky business is part of the thrill, but a wise gambler enters into the transaction with their eyes wide open. After all, you only have to watch enough blockbuster Hollywood movies to know that the ‘house always wins.’ Gambling is a business, and the odds, while fairly set, are always in the shareholder’s favor. Those who win big in the gambling industry are the entrepreneurs who build the businesses.
While there are plenty of famous names in the gambling industry, one UK platform stands out above the crowd for many reasons. While Bet365 is a household name, the founder of the business is a less well-known figure. Unlike many gambling and casino companies that went before her, Denise Coates did not put her name above her businesses’ virtual doors. Instead, she planned to champion the idea that betting and iGaming could be an all-year-round online activity.
According to Forbes, Denise Coates is worth a staggering $9.7 billion from her 50% ownership of Bet365, making her the two-hundred and sixty-second richest person in the world. She might live in a 52-acre estate in the English countryside with a helipad, tennis courts, zip wire, treehouse, and stabling, but she is not your average billionaire.
After graduating from Sheffield University with a first-class econometrics degree, Coates returned to her Staffordshire hometown of Stoke-on-Trent, where her family owned a small chain of physical betting shops. At this time, Stoke was struggling in the post-industrial era and the closure of its lifeblood, the potteries, as production shifted to the global market. The internet was very much in its infancy, but she believed the future of gambling would be online.
In 2001, she paid eBay $25,000 for the domain name bet365.com and raised £15 million in mortgages against the family’s bricks-and-mortar shop. Then, she invested all the money in sports betting technology and built the company’s bespoke platform. In 2005, the high street shops were sold off for £40 million to Coral, and the entire focus was shifted to online gambling.
The site was no longer just about sports betting but included iGaming, which included digital slots and online roulette.
Online gambling was still very niche then, and gambling was a rather shady business, so marketing and communications were incredibly important. As the government overhauled Britain’s gambling laws, betting was dragged from behind screened-out shop windows and into the mainstream. Advertising and marketing were used to build brands and drive traffic. A Bet365 casino bonus was a surefire way to get new players to try out the experience. By the time Apple’s iPhone hit the market, Bet365 was already many people’s most trusted site, and they now had the technology to access their favorite games from anywhere, at any time. Coates’ idea of 365 access had become a reality, and everyone who wanted one had a casino in their pocket.
Meanwhile, the Coates family’s pockets and bank accounts were filling up. She might have started the business from a portacabin in a Stoke-on-Trent carpark, but her team now finds themselves in considerably more salubrious surroundings. While she might be heralded as the UK’s richest woman, she is also known to be its biggest taxpayer. Unlike many other rich British entrepreneurs, she has not offshored her wealth or her jobs. In an online industry, it would be easy for Bet365’s team to be located anywhere in the world.
However, the company supports about 12,000 jobs directly and indirectly in Stoke. It generates considerable wealth for the area; the family bought Stoke City Football Club in 2006 and offers graduate employment to the city’s bright young things. Under the family’s stewardship, not only has the business flourished, but with their financial heft, the football team got into the prestigious Premier League in 2008, where it remained for ten years before relegation in 2018. As well as bankrolling the team, it also pays for fans to travel to away games. However, remaining in the UK’s top-flight football league takes more than just money and enthusiasm. Fortunately for Coates, the profits from the gambling business have continued its upward trajectory.
Bet365 is still a family-owned business, so there are no shareholder meetings. Coats is a private person not known for lavish public appearances or speaking at conferences. She donates to the Denise Coates Foundation, a charity established in her name. Her employees say she is a good employer who genuinely supports and empowers them.
However, she is no walkover and is known as a formidable entrepreneur, and in an industry that men have typically dominated, she cuts a distinctive air. Rumors that she drives an Aston Martin with a private BET365 license plate are dismissed as untrue. While the car can be seen in the company’s car park, it apparently does not belong to her but to a close family member. A source close to her says she likes maintaining a lower profile and enjoys being anonymous.
She could be regarded as the epitome of corporate excess based on enormous pay packets, but most people around her home city regard her as a force for good who puts her income through the payroll, pays her way, and, unlike many of her fellow billionaires, does not shy away from paying her taxes.
While she is not outspoken on politics, recent records reveal that her father and the company have donated to Britain’s Labour Party over the years and recently to Keir Starmer’s leadership campaign. The company also donated significantly to the Stronger In campaign that tried to keep the UK in the EU. It could be argued that the whole country lost out on that bet when her city, like the slim majority of the UK electorate, voted in favor of Brexit.