Wealthiest people West Midlands: The richest woman from the West Midlands and her estimated net worth?

The West Midlands is home to many millionaires and billionaires. From innovators to entrepreneurs to celebrities, the region has produced talented and successful men and women. While the richest man from Birmingham is the founder of now defunct Phones 4U, John Caudwell, 70, the richest celebrity born here is Ozzy Osbourne, 74.

With both of these positions being held by men, it is important to look at the stories of inspiring women from the region as well. And, one of the most successful businesswomen in the country was born in the West Midlands.

The richest woman from the West Midlands is the CEO of a betting company in Stoke-on-Trent with a net worth of around £4.4bn. Denise Coates CBE, the CEO of Bet365, was born in Stoke-on-Trent, England, in 1967, to a family of bookmakers and she followed in their footsteps.

Her family used to own a betting company called Provincial Racing and she began working there while in school. She went on to graduate from the University of Sheffield with a degree in Econometrics before rejoining the family business.

In 2000, she bought the domain name Bet365.com and launched a small online betting company the next year. Over the last two decades, she has been working hard as the CEO and director to grow the company. It employs more than 4,000 people and has a presence in many countries now.

Her family is still part of the business with her father, Peter Coates, being a director. He is also the chairman of Stoke City F.C. Denise’s brother John Coates is the joint chief executive of Bet365 and joint-chairman of Stoke City.

Denise, John and Peter Coates - the founders of the betting company are the second highest tax payers in the country. Together, they paid £460.2m in tax in 2022, according to the Sunday Times Rich List 2022.

Her charity work

The Denise Coates Foundation has donated millions to various charities including Oxfam, the Douglas Macmillan Hospice for cancer sufferers in Stoke, and relief programmes for victims of Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines.

In March 2020 a donation of £235,000 was made by the foundation to The New Vic Theatre in Newcastle-under-Lyme and in April 2020, she donated £10 million through her foundation to University Hospitals of North Midlands to support staff fighting coronavirus.

Her personal life

She is married to Richard Smith - whom she met at the University of Sheffield. He reportedly works for Bet365 as well and they have five kids together with four of them being adopted from the same family.