Sports Betting Coates Family Makes the British Rich List

Posted on: April 29, 2013, 05:29h. 

Last updated on: April 29, 2013, 04:30h.

Casino.org Staff Writer Read More

Expertise: Commercial Gaming.

As the family behind one of the world’s largest online sports betting sites, bet365, the Coates family are reportedly set to become Britain’s first gambling billionaires after amassing a fortune of £925 million (that’s something like a billion and 4 million more in change in dollars) and have been featured in the 2013 London Sunday Times Rich List alongside some of the real movers, shakers, high rollers and high-achievers of the world.

We’d be smiling, too.

According to the Sunday Times Rich List, the U.K.’s top ten internet gambling sites are valued at more than £100 million each ($155,000,000) and bet365 is smashing the statistics as Peter Coates, his daughter Denise, and his son John, are worth an estimated £925 million just 13 years after founding the company.

365 A Good Bet

The betting site accounts for about £800 million  ($1,240,000,00)  of their net worth, with the rest of the family fortune being made up of other assets, including Premier League football club Stoke City. This really is a business-savvy family with the ambition to exceed. Clearly.

As a key Labour donor, Peter Coates has donated £300,000 ($465,000) to the political party over the past decade, including £10,000 ($15,500) to Ed Miliband in the last 12 months alone. However, his political affiliations haven’t always been a good thing, as Coates attracted controversy during the last Labour Government after donating substantial sums of money to the Labour Party at a time when gambling legislation was still under consideration.

More Gambling Site Success Stories

Creeping up behind the Coates family are brothers Fred and Peter Done, founders of BetFred, who are now worth an estimated £850 million ($1,317,500,000) after opening their first betting shop in Manchester in 1967.

Third on the list of richest online gambling operators are Ruth Parasol and Russ DeLeon, best known for PartyPoker, who are now worth around £667 million ($1,033,850,000). The pair founded PartyGaming back in 1997, and have enjoyed continuing success over the years.

If we can read anything into the inclusion of the online operators in the Sunday Times Rich List, which includes some of the most successful entrepreneurs in the world, it is that the house definitely wins.

In fact, so much money was lost last year by online gamblers that a number of operators have increased their profits exponentially, with the Coates family reporting an asset growth of £125 million ($193,750,000) compared to last year, and the Done brothers reporting an increase of £150 million ($232,500,000) from last year’s revenues. The Sunday Times noted that betting exchanges, virtual poker tables, and online bingo have all proved lucrative over the last 12 months.