Activision Blizzard Blames Microsoft for Failing to Meet Diversity Requirements

gamerant.com:

Activision Blizzard is in hot water again after failing to comply with a California law requiring the company to have at least three women on its board of directors by the end of 2021. In its defense, Activision Blizzard blames its upcoming acquisition by Microsoft as the reason why it wasn't able to comply with the law, despite having three years to follow through.

The Corporations Code and its «Women on Boards» requirement state that companies located in California must have three women directors if the total number of board members is six or more. It is worth mentioning that this requirement came into effect in early 2019, which means that Activision Blizzard has known about this law for three years. Currently, Activision Blizzard has two female members, Reveta Bowers and Dawn Ostroff, on a board of 10 members.

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In its 2021 Annual Report filed in late February, Activision Blizzard acknowledges its failure to comply with the requirement, blaming its merger with Microsoft. To improve the diversity of its Board of Directors, the company retained a search firm to begin the process of acquiring potential candidates and interviewing them for a board member position. However, since current directors wouldn't continue to serve their role on the Board of Directors after the merger with Microsoft is complete, Activision Blizzard couldn't comply with the law by the end of 2021.

To meet this requirement and improve the diversity of our Board of Directors, the Company retained a search firm and began interviewing potential additional directors in 2021. However, since the Company's current directors would cease to continue to serve on our Board of Directors upon