Phil Spencer reportedly started Activision talks days after explosive Bobby Kotick report
Microsoft started acquisition talks with Activision Blizzard just days after the publication of a report alleging that its CEO Bobby Kotick had known for years about allegations of sexual misconduct at the company.
That’s according to a regulatory filing published on Friday, which details the negotiations that eventually led to Microsoft’s $68.7bn agreement to acquire the Call of Duty publisher.
As noted by CNBC, the timing of the conversations appears to be opportunistic, since the WSJ report caused huge reputational damage to Activision Blizzard’s CEO and sent its stock tumbling 11%.
The documents claim that the first conversations between Kotick and Xbox head Phil Spencer happened on November 19.
That’s three days after a Wall Street Journal report alleged that Kotick had been accused of mistreatment by women at the company, including leaving a voicemail in 2006 in which he threatened to have an assistant killed, and withheld information from the company’s board relating to sexual misconduct allegations.
It’s also a day after Spencer is claimed to have addressed the issue internally, telling staff in an email that he was “evaluating all aspects of our relationship with Activision Blizzard and making ongoing proactive adjustments”.
However, a day later Spencer is said to have planted the seeds of Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard.
“On November 19, 2021, in the course of a conversation on a different topic between Mr. Spencer and Mr. Kotick, Mr. Spencer raised that Microsoft was interested in discussing strategic opportunities between Activision Blizzard and Microsoft and asked whether it would be possible to have a call with [Microsoft CEO] Mr. Nadella the following day,” the regulatory filing states.
After making
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