As the co-CEO of one of the world's biggest online gambling companies, Denise Coates' net worth stands at £5.5 billion as of April 2025, making her the richest woman in the UK. Coates is the majority shareholder, co-founder and joint CEO of bet365, the online sports betting site, which she launched in 2001 after buying the domain on eBay the year before that. 

Coates joined the the gambling industry by working in her family's business, Provincial Racing, expanding it to about 50 betting shops before launching Bet365. However, Forbes recorded a decrease in her wealth compared to 2024, when her net worth was reportedly at around £7.1 billion. 

Coates co-founded the business with her father, Peter Coates, who acts as a board director and was also the former chairman of Stoke City Football Club.

She is from Stoke-on-Trent and studied econometrics at the University of Sheffield before starting work in her father's company. 

Last year, the billionaire moved into a massive £90 million mansion in Cheshire with her family. 

The mansion features two helicopters, tennis coarts, an Olympic-sized swimming pool, a boathouse, a water slide for her children and gardens.

At the end of last month, Bet365 officially ceased operations in China. 

In a notice sent to Chinese customers, Bet365 cited a strategic refocus on "core markets [and] regions that provide long-term sustainable revenue."

The company had long operated using "mirror sites" but the government has been increasing government crackdowns and the risk of penalties for Chinese citizens gambling offshore. 

Gambling is prohibited in China a part from in the regions of Macau and Hong Kong. 

Bet365, however, is doubling down on regulated markets, particularly in Brazil and the United States following Brazil's legalisation of online sports betting and expanding its activity in the US with it now being used across 13 states.