Kotick will reportedly remain as Activision CEO if Microsoft deal falls through
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Bobby Kotick will reportedly retain his position as CEO of Activision Blizzard if the proposed acquisition by Microsoft is blocked by regulators or scrapped altogether.
Sources familiar with the matter told Fox Business that even if the $68.7 billion deal falls through, Kotick "will absolutely remain at the gaming giant to run the company."
It's unclear what will happen to Kotick if Microsoft does acquire Activision Blizzard. There were reports around the time of the deal's announcement that the Xbox firm had confirmed it would retain Kotick, while other reports expected him to leave – receiving a $15 million payout if he was fired.
In April 2022, Activision Blizzard said it had not discussed Kotick's future after the merger.
In many similar cases, a CEO stays in positional period for one or two years before stepping down and leaving the company.
Kotick has been CEO of Activision since 1991 and oversaw the merger with Vivendi Games that formed Activision Blizzard.
The Fox Business report follows Kotick's appearance on the TV network's show, in which we was quizzed about the potential opposition from key regulators such as the US Federal Trade Commission, the European Commission and the UK's Competition and Markets Authority.
In its subsequent report, Fox Business' sources said Activision Blizzard views the CMA as the "only real potential roadblock" to the Microsoft deal going through, and remains confident the two games companies will convince the UK regulator that such a merger will not harm competition.
The CMA posted its provisional findings of its phase two investigation into the deal, believing that Microsoft's ownership of
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