Bet365’s Denise Coates jumps up Sunday Times Rich List
Bet365 founder Denise Coates and her family climbed four places on this year’s edition of the Sunday Times Rich List, while other gambling entrepreneurs also moved up the annual list.
The list ranks the 1,000 wealthiest people or families in the UK by net wealth. Denise, her father Peter and brother John placed 16th on the 2025 Sunday Times Rich List with £9.45 billion ($12.60 billion) in wealth.
This year’s ranking means the Coates family moved up four places from 20th in 2024. The Bet365 owners were also ranked 16th in both the 2022 and 2023 editions of the list.
Anthony Bamford, founder of construction machinery company JCB, narrowly beat the Coates family to 15th on the list. Placing behind the Bet365 founders were Carrie and François Perrodo, whose wealth comes from oil.
Betfred and PokerStars owners climb the list
Elsewhere, the 2025 Sunday Times Rich List also included several other entrepreneurs, some of whom joined the Coates family in rising up the rankings.
Brothers Ian and Richard Livingstone, who hold a stake in Evolution, were the next inclusion from the sector, behind the Bet365 founder. Their fortune of £5.73 billion saw them place 34th, down from 28th in 2024.
Mark Scheinberg, the founder of PokerStars, climbed from 41st to 38th with a £5.08 billion fortune. Meanwhile, Betfred founders, Fred and Peter Done, were up to 57th from 76th on £2.92 billion.
Other inclusions were Michael Tabor, who owns the BetVictor brand, with £800 million, placing him 199th. Ruth Parasol, founder of the PartyGaming online casino platform, was not far behind in 203rd with £780 million. The company now falls under Entain’s suite of products.
Tony Bloom, who made his initial fortune playing poker before launching the StarLizard betting consultancy, was up from 233rd to 213th with £721 million. Will Roseff, who is also involved with Bet365, completed the gambling contingent. His £579 million fortune placed him 254th.
Could Bet365 be put up for sale?
Publication of this year’s list comes as reports continue to swirl about the future of Bet365.
Reports on 1 May suggested Bet365 is mulling a sale for a potential windfall of £9 billion for the Coates family. The Guardian said internal informal talks weighing the options for a sale, IPO or partial sale of the company have taken place.
The report added that Bet365 has conducted talks with US advisers and Wall Street banks over the last few weeks.
One option that is said to have been discussed is selling part of the business to a private equity firm. This would allow the Coates family to retain a stake. Bet365 could also consider floating on the US stock exchange.
iGB recently spoke with several industry experts about a potential sale, with some noting the valuation seemed slim compared to listed peers DraftKings.
Denise Coates founded Bet365 in 2001, borrowing £15 million against her family’s betting shop estate to launch the online brand.