Will Kotick survive the scandals at ActiBlizz?
- Thread starter Sheepinator
- Start date
- Activision/Blizzard
It's a big power move because of this part that people are missing
The board backed him, but if the board keeping their role is conditional on him being there, I can see them backing down on that.
I'd like to iterate another point. If the scandals at Blizzard and arguably the destruction of one of the most acclaimed and successful gaming companies of all time wasn't enough for the board to have him removed, I doubt these recently revealed scandals will do anything to convince any board members to act differently. I consider most of them to be horrible beings that don't care about human nature at all, only in filling their own pockets.
The stocks will dictate if Bobby leaves or stays. The human price is meaningless to them.
The stocks will dictate if Bobby leaves or stays. The human price is meaningless to them.
The shareholders in question only hold 0.6 percent of the company. That's obviously not enough for them to block reelection but if they can convince some of the bigger fish to back them in their plot, then it's a different story. If they're not able to, then he'll stay.
0.6 percent. The board isn't even breaking a sweat over this.
Going full pessimist on this one. I think he stays and absolutely nothing tangible and effective happens. I'd love to be wrong though.
It really does. I don't even know how you fix an issue that seems to run this deep. Would need to get someone in completely new who has permission to just get rid of all the bad apples with impunity. Huge huge undertaking.
I expect him to go nowhere. Will be pleasantly surprised otherwise. I more expect people to leave the company to get away from the environment he fosters. Guy is just too dug in.
Who cares? Kotick's estimated net worth is near $600 million dollars.
However the situation at AB shakes out, unless Kotick is somehow facing trial & imprisonment (he isn't), complete repossession of his wealth (he isn't), or vigilante justice (unfortunately not), he's going to continue living a lifestyle and have access to resources that none of us here can fathom.
The only way people like Kotick will ever pause for a second to stop and consider their actions is if there are real, concrete, harmful physical repercussions. If they know that their money cannot protect them, then you might get their attention.
However the situation at AB shakes out, unless Kotick is somehow facing trial & imprisonment (he isn't), complete repossession of his wealth (he isn't), or vigilante justice (unfortunately not), he's going to continue living a lifestyle and have access to resources that none of us here can fathom.
The only way people like Kotick will ever pause for a second to stop and consider their actions is if there are real, concrete, harmful physical repercussions. If they know that their money cannot protect them, then you might get their attention.
Shareholders throwing weight but I'm not smart enough to favor it in. Said they'd withhold voting
I think this ends with resignation, and leaving the company. But I don't know what the timeline will be.
Did you see the developments this morning?
Those shareholders hold too little stock to have an impact outside of some more bad PR.
The reality is that this won't really be decided by the board, or activist shareholders. It's going to come down to the investment firms that hold much larger portions of Activision's stock. And specifically the people leading those firms: guys like Tim Buckley at Vanguard and Larry Fink at BlackRock. If they feel like Bobby is no longer capable of keeping Activision at a stabile share price, then he's gone. The board will do what they tell them to do. But even in that case I doubt they'll do anything radical like firing with cause. Bobby's one of their own- other CEOs don't like it when they see someone get ousted without that golden parachute.
Which developments? The insignificant portion of the shareholders demanding his resignation?
It's a confluence of everything that has come to light, along with major outlets reporting the story, along with Vanguard being down, along with Blizzard just slowly falling apart with respect to game development. All of this together has never swirled together before.
Only time will tell, but this is all happening at the same time. It's much easier to fight off one at a time. We shall see.
Kotick could do a live stream where he straight up shot and killed employees, and in 6 months time gamers would be talking about the new CoD with Kotick being forgotten.
They could oust him if the share price keeps dropping. Bring in an interim CEO to stabilize things, and then bring in someone permanent after the investigations are resolved. I don't think they're at that point yet, but it's possible.
hard to be optimistic here, board went to bat for their money earner just yesterday so unless more accusations pour in...love to be wrong here
That is another option. Although the interim CEO can't stop the bleeding, especially if there continues to be more bad press and there inevitably will be as the state case moves forward.
Unfortunately, I think he will survive it. ActivisionBlizzard will hemorrhage talent as a result though.
Since he was CEO at a time in which the company thrived his "golden parachute" would be massive.
Also, Kotick is the largest single share holder with millions of shares. So, buying out his shares would be a lot.
To truly be rid of Kotick would cost Activision Blizzard probably around $500 million.
So, from a business perspective is either pay Kotick a half billion to try and look like the good guys or keep him and hope this blows over.
This exact same kind of controversy quickly blew over for the CEO of Riot Games and now no one cares about him.
OP
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They don't need to "buy his shares". They're his to do what he wants with. The severance package for being fired without cause is nearly $22M, and $0 if with cause. If he's fired without cause his unvested options will vest immediately, but even then that's nowhere near $500M and it's not like the company is giving him cash in that scenario.
I feel like maybe this could lead to a different outcome considering that Kotick has had a much bigger stink lingering on him for the longest time, with the most recent allegations just cementing it all.