Bet365 made a profit of £470m before tax in the year to the end of March 2021, on revenues that were flat at £2.8bn.

Denise Coates founder and CEO was paid £250m. She also had a share of 50% of the company’s £97.5m dividend taking her total compensation for the year to just under £300m.

Founded about two decades ago, Bet365’s business has benefited from the growing popularity of online sports betting. Little changed from a year earlier as the pandemic continued to weigh on sports wagering from postponed or canceled events.

Ms Coates said that growth had been impacted by “a complete cessation of sporting events” as the pandemic hit. Customers had instead moved to other online betting products such as bingo and casino.

“This, allied with the significant migration of customers during the various lockdowns from sports betting to gaming, led to overall revenues remaining broadly flat,”

The betting website’s joint chief executive and her family, who are worth £7.166 billion, had a tax liability of £573 million last year, according to the annual Sunday Times Tax List.