Last month, the Wall Street Journal said that if Activision Blizzard was acquired, the company’s controversial CEO Bobby Kotick is expected to be fired, but the final outcome is still uncertain. Today, Fox Business broke the news that Bobby Kotick “absolutely will continue to serve as CEO,” even if negotiations with Microsoft collapse.
According to “sources with knowledge of the situation,” Bobby Kotick “absolutely will stay with the gaming giant and run the company” if regulators scupper the acquisition, it said.
Despite previous reports that Bobby Kotick was expected to leave Activision Blizzard following the closing of the deal, the company claimed in an April 2022 report to shareholders that Bobby Kotick had not discussed his plans prior to the acquisition announcement and that by then he had not discussed his plans. still not discussed.
“Prior to the approval and execution of the Merger Agreement and its contemplated transactions, there were no discussions or negotiations between Microsoft and Mr. Bobby Kotick with Microsoft regarding employment arrangements following the closing of the transaction, or after approval and execution, until the date of this Agreement until.”
It’s worth noting that Bobby Kotick could have made hundreds of millions of dollars had he been fired after being acquired by Microsoft.
In fact, Bobby Kotick has been under fire since a Wall Street Journal report in November 2021 said he knew of multiple allegations of sexual misconduct by Activision Blizzard and created a crisis at the company. A toxic workplace culture.
Before Microsoft announced plans to acquire Activision Blizzard, the company had about 1,900 employees (out of a total of 10,000 employees) signed a petition asking Bobby Kotick to leave the company. Reports at the time said Kotick had promised to resign if he couldn’t “quick fix” the company’s cultural issues.
Bobby Kotick has remained mum since Microsoft’s announcement, but he warned Britain’s Competition and Markets Authority earlier this week that blocking the deal would deal a serious blow to the country’s goal of becoming a tech superpower, before accepting the UK’s The Financial Times accused Sony of “trying to sabotage” the Microsoft acquisition, saying SIE CEO Jim Ryan had “stopped talking” with the two companies.
