It has been predicted that Father Christmas would earn £120,000 annually, whereas the founder of Bet365 took home £323 million this year.
City Lit predicted this annual salary for Father Christmas, which was given to him based on the average CEO. Denise Coates, co-founder of Bet365 earns 2,692 times more than Saint Nick.
Bet365 is jointly owned by Ms Coates and members of her family, such as her brother John and her father Peter.
The company brought in a profit of £791 million in 2019, which is an increase of £661 million the previous year.
Father Christmas could possibly receive a £30,000 bonus if all children of the world received a present on Christmas day. In order to achieve this bonus, Father Christmas would have to travel 160,000,000km in 24 hours.
In order to prepare for the day, City Lit believes Father Christmas’s elves would most likely have studied courses such as clothes and toys making, computer studies and teamwork.
Ms Coates is now the highest paid CEO in the UK and earns more than Boris Johnson.
Luke Hildyard, a campaigner for the High Pay Centre, a think tank which researches and carry out issues relating to top incomes said:
This looks like cynical timing, sneaked out straight after a general election campaign where excess wealth, taxes on the rich and the vast gap between those at the top and everybody else have been key issues.
It’s important that wealth and how it’s created and shared are properly debated. But the publication of these figures seems designed to avoid scrutiny, suggesting that even Bet365 recognises that, while business success should be rewarded, such a colossal payout goes far beyond what is fair or proportionate.
City Lit is a provider of short courses for adults.
Darius is the editor of HRreview. He has previously worked as a finance reporter for the Daily Express. He studied his journalism masters at Press Association Training and graduated from the University of York with a degree in History.
