What happens to Bobby Kotick?
polygon.comBobby Kotick will remain chief executive of Activision Blizzard while Microsoft closes its deal to acquire the embattled publisher of Call of Duty, World of Warcraft, and Overwatch. When the $68.7 billion deal is finalized in 2023, “the Activision Blizzard business” will report to Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer, Microsoft said.
But it remains unclear what Kotick’s position at Activision Blizzard, if he still has one, will be after the proposed buyout is completed. The companies say only that Kotick will remain CEO through Microsoft’s 2023 fiscal year, which ends June 30, 2023. Kotick told The New York Times that he “will be available as needed” after the closing.
A new Wall Street Journal report Tuesday, citing sources familiar with the deal, says that the companies have agreed that Kotick will leave “once the deal closes.” If he’s no longer with Activision afterward, his employment contract calls for him to receive a severance package worth nearly $293 million should he lose his job to a corporate takeover, according to financial documents. Reached for comment, a Microsoft representative told Polygon that, “given the extended close time,” the company has nothing more to add, instead pointing to Spencer’s initial statement announcing the deal.
What we know for sure is that for Kotick will remain Activision Blizzard’s CEO until the Microsoft deal is signed — something that could take more than a year to do. “This is going to get a lot of regulatory scrutiny,” LightShed Ventures analyst and partner Brandon Ross told Polygon. It will need to be evaluated in the United States, but also in Europe, Ross said, where merger and acquisition standards are high. For instance, U.K. regulators are trying to block the $400 million
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