Bet365's Denise Coates sets up £100m charity foundation

Denise Coates, the founder of online betting company Bet365, has set up a charitable foundation with £100m after the company's profits more than doubled in the previous year. Coates, who started the company in a car park in Stoke-on-Trent 14 years ago, has received more than £60m in pay and dividends in the past year.

The company paid out dividends of £225m in the last six years, with Coates receiving half of the amount. Bet365 is Stoke's largest private sector employer, with around 80% of its 2,875 staff working at the company's head office in the city. The business also has an office in Gibraltar.

The newly founded Bet365 Foundation has already made donations to various charities and causes, including Oxfam, the Douglas Macmillan Hospice, university scholarships, and relief programs for victims of natural disasters.