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Denise Coates, the billionaire boss of Bet365, a self-described \u201cultimate gambler\u201d<\/a> and Britain\u2019s highest-paid woman, took home at least \u00a3280m in pay and dividends in 2025 despite a slump in pre-tax profits.<\/p>\n Coates\u2019s Stoke-based gambling empire recorded turnover of \u00a34bn in the year to March 2025, up from \u00a33.7bn the year before<\/a>. Pre-tax profits fell to \u00a3349m from \u00a3627m in the previous year.<\/p>\n Bet365 incurred a \u00a3325m increase in expenses as it reshaped its global footprint, expanding its presence in the US and South America, while giving up its sometimes controversial presence in China, where online betting is illegal.<\/p>\n Coates had already extracted more than \u00a32.5bn in pay and dividends from a company that she began building in a car park in her home city.<\/p>\n Accounts posted on Tuesday show that she took a further \u00a3104m in salary, while her majority shareholding means she is entitled to at least 50% of a dividend of \u00a3353.6m, taking her total income from the group to at least \u00a3280m.<\/p>\n The deal is an increase on the \u00a3150m she claimed last year but falls some way short of her \u00a3469m record payout in 2021.<\/p>\n While Coates\u2019s vast remuneration has sometimes drawn criticism for its sheer scale, some in the industry have pointed to the fact that she avoids structuring her deals in a way that dodges tax, making her one of the largest contributors to the exchequer in the UK.<\/p>\n The company also donated a further \u00a3130m to her charity, the Denise Coates Foundation.<\/p>\n The Guardian has previously reported that tax breaks available to Bet365<\/a> as a result of its donations to the foundation may have saved the company more than the charity has yet paid out to good causes.<\/p>\n During the year, Bet365 also waived loans to Stoke City football club, which was demerged from the group and is now under the control of Denise Coates\u2019s brother, John.<\/p>\n The accounts made no mention of early-stage discussions about a possible \u00a39bn sale of the group, which the Guardian revealed earlier this year had taken place<\/a>.<\/p>\n However, the company did refer obliquely to its decision to leave the Chinese market, where betting is illegal. Bet365\u2019s presence there has long been controversial<\/a>, although it has always insisted that it was not breaking any Chinese laws.<\/p>\n The company incurred one-off restructuring and reorganisation costs of \u00a359m after its exit from \u201ccertain markets\u201d, it said.<\/p>\n However, it did not cease taking bets in China until the end of March, indicating that some of the cost of its exit could fall during the current financial year.<\/p>\n The departure has been seen by some pundits as a necessary step to ensure it does not fall foul of regulators or enforcement bodies in the US, where Bet365 is expanding fast.<\/p>\n