Activision blames Microsoft acquisition for failure to hire another woman to its board

eurogamer.net:

The state of California says that, by law, companies with boards consisting of six people or more must have at least three women serving on them. Activision's board exceeds this number, and yet it failed to introduce a third women in 2021.

Activision has stated that the reason for this failure is due to its planned acquisition by Microsoft complicating matters.

«Since the Company's current directors would cease to continue to serve on our Board of Directors upon consummation of our proposed transaction with Microsoft, we were unable to conclude the process in 2021», Activision says (via Axios).

The company goes on to say, «We will be continuing our efforts to appoint a new female director».

However, how much more of a complication Microsoft's planned acquisition really added is questionable, as these laws were first put in place in 2019.

Activision has been at the centre of numerous allegations in recent months, with many sharing their stories of workplace harassment and sexual misconduct.

A Wall Street Journal report in November revealed that Activision CEO Bobby Kotick had known all about the allegations of sexual misconduct and mistreatment of female employees across many parts of the company «for years». And yet, despite this knowledge, Kotick failed to tell the board of directors and executives everything he knew.

Following this report, Activision's board released a statement saying it «remains confident» in Kotick's «leadership, commitment and ability».

However, just a mere three days after WSJ's damming report, Microsoft began talks to purchase Activision. Then, in January 2022, Microsoft officially announced its plans to buy Activision Blizzard, with Kotick expected to leave the company when this deal is