The video gaming industry is still reacting to Microsoft acquiring Activision Blizzard for US$68.7 billion. In the official announcement, the Xbox parent said that Bobby Kotick, CEO of the Call of Duty publisher, will continue to serve in said position. But according to the Wall Street Journal, the embattled CEO is expected to leave the company after the deal closes.
Sources to WSJ claim that while Kotick will remain as Activision Blizzard CEO for awhile more, the two companies had agreed that Kotick will depart once the deal has been sealed. That is expected to happen by June 2023, which is the end of Microsoft’s fiscal year 2023.
A propos of nothing, here's how much Activision Blizzard is to pay Kotick if he is terminated as a result of a change of control of the company, per his employee agreement pic.twitter.com/JEA5zexmI1
— Alex (@gamesbizuk) January 18, 2022
Kotick may also end up jumping off the Activision Blizzard plane with a massive golden parachute. Twitter user @gamesbizuk shared what is claimed to be the CEO’s employee agreement, showing that he stands to get up to US$292.97 million (~RM1.23 billion). Though it’s not exactly clear if that will be the case come June 2023.
There’s still a lot of uncertainly behind the while acquisition, as one of this size will definitely attract the attention of antitrust legislators in the US. But if the WSJ report is accurate, then at least those who want Bobby Kotick out of the gaming scene will be getting what they want.
(Source: WSJ, @gamesbizuk / Twitter)
