Owners of betfred and bet365 in top three highest UK taxpayers

Chris Hohn topped the list ahead of the owners of the gambling giants.

Key points:

– Fred and Peter Done and their families’ tax payments grew

– Denise, John and Peter Coates remained in third place on the list

The Times has released its annual tax list for 2025, showing who paid the most tax in the year gone by, with the gambling industry represented in the top three places.

Fred and Peter Done and family, owners of Betfred, alongside bet365 owners Denise, John and Peter Coates, took the second and third spots respectively on the list, making up the top five taxpayers in the UK once again.

Children’s Investment Fund Management Founder Chris Hohn was the only individual higher than the bookmaker owners having paid £339.5m ($423.15m) in taxes to the UK Government. Betfred’s owners paid £273.4m, while the Coates family paid £265m.

While the pair have consistently been near the higher scale of the list, bet365’s owners have stayed in the same position as last year, though according to the 2024 tax list paid £375.9m, while Fred and Peter Done and family have gone up two places with their figure in the last edition of the list valued at £204.6m.

Good to know: The recent UK Budget showed no rise on gambling duties within betting and gaming

This comes shortly after bet365 released its FY2024 financial report, which showed a vast improvement in profit, and also underlined that Denise Coates’ pay was down in the period by a significant amount.

Betfred’s most recent financial report came in July, namely its annual report for 2023, which showed an increase of 25.6% in turnover, but at the same time a 98.7% decrease in operating profit.

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Ciaran McLoughlin
Gambling Writer

Ciarán McLoughlin is a writer for Gambling Insider (and Gaming America), based in London, UK.
With a strong background in both sports and gambling journalism, Ciarán covers a wide array of industry topics — from regulatory shifts and market developments to operator news and sector analysis — delivering timely and informed content for a professional B2B audience.
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