bobby kotick
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Activision Blizzard’s ex-CEO Bobby Kotick reportedly wants to buy TikTok
According to a report from The Wall Street Journal, Bobby Kotick has expressed interest in purchasing TikTok, and approached others including OpenAI CEO Sam Altman about the idea of partnering. A new bill has left TikTok's future in the US up in the air.
Bobby Kotick will remain Activision Blizzard CEO until the end of 2023
Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick looks set to leave the company now that Microsoft owns it. Kotick, a controversial figure, has been in the role since 1991.
Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick gets to keep his board seat
This, despite allegedly playing a role in maintaining the company's toxic workplace culture.
NYC targets CEO Bobby Kotick in latest Activision Blizzard lawsuit
Officials accuse Kotick of trying to avoid liability for scandals with a swift sale to Microsoft.
Microsoft is buying Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion
Microsoft is buying 'Diablo' creator Activision Blizzard for a massive $68.7 billion.
Activision Blizzard continues to remove employees amid misconduct allegations
But CEO Bobby Kotick reportedly tried to keep a lid on the exact figures.
Six state treasurers want Activision Blizzard to address its toxic workplace culture
State treasurers from California, Massachusetts, Illinois, Oregon, Delaware and Nevada recently contacted the company’s board of directors to discuss its “response to the challenges and investment risk exposures that face Activision.”
Nintendo of America head responds to 'distressing' situation at Activision Blizzard
In an internal company email obtained by Fanbyte, Nintendo of America President Doug Bowser says he was distressed by the allegations detailed in The Journal's investigation.
Activision Blizzard’s latest anti-harassment effort is a ‘responsibility committee’
Activision Blizzard has formed a committee to help it address the ongoing harassment scandal, but it's not likely to satisfy critics.
Activision Blizzard CEO will consider leaving if problems aren't solved quickly
Bobby Kotick has reportedly said he may consider resigning as CEO of Activision Blizzard if he can’t fix the company’s cultural problems fast enough.
Engadget Podcast: The storm around Activision Blizzard’s CEO
This week, Cherlynn and Devindra are joined by Engadget’s Jessica Conditt to dive into the latest controversy around Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick.
More than 800 Activision Blizzard employees call for CEO Bobby Kotick to resign
'We, the undersigned, no longer have confidence in the leadership of Bobby Kotick,' a petition reads.
PlayStation head Jim Ryan criticizes Activision Blizzard response to sexual harassment scandal
It turns out Blizzard employees weren’t the only ones to express frustration with their company and CEO Bobby Kotick after The Wall Street Journal published an explosive report on the ongoing sexual harassment scandal at the publisher.
Activision Blizzard workers walk out and demand CEO Bobby Kotick's resignation
Employees at Activision Blizzard are calling for the resignation of CEO Bobby Kotick following new revelations into the role he may have played in creating the toxic workplace culture that has mired the company in controversy.
Activision Blizzard says it's cooperating with investigations into workplace practices
Meanwhile, Blizzard's chief legal officer just left the company.
Activision Blizzard faces an investor lawsuit stemming from its discrimination case
A harassment and discrimination lawsuit from the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) isn’t the only legal battle Activision Blizzard has to worry about anymore.
Activision Blizzard reports a record quarter amid growing wage dispute
Employees say they're struggling to make ends meet while Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick makes millions.
Activision, Vivendi lawsuit settlement amounts to $275 million
Activision Blizzard reached a settlement this week over a shareholder's lawsuit in regards to the Call of Duty publisher's October 2013 buyout. As a result, Vivendi and others will pay $275 million to Activision to settle the litigation, which began in August 2013 before Activision's $8.2 billion purchase of itself from Vivendi was completed. Under the settlement terms, Activision will also add two directors to its board and must change the terms of its voting rights. According to the lawsuit, Activision CEO Bobby Kotick and Co-Chairman Brian Kelly seemingly benefited from insider knowledge of the company's purchase, obtaining a 10 percent discount when Kotick's investment firm purchased 172 million shares of Activision for $2.34 billion. The lawsuit alleged a "breach of fiduciary duties, waste of corporate assets and unjust enrichment." Emails from the suit presented in July revealed that Vivendi wanted to fire Kotick in 2013 during the purchasing negotiations. [Image: Activision]
Activision Blizzard resolves class action lawsuits
When Activision Blizzard bought itself to be freed from Vivendi, there was no shortage of unhappy shareholders, leading to several class action lawsuits filed against the company and other attendant actors in response to the whole process. Those suits have now been resolved and the case is now closed; the parties have settled out of court, with the proposed settlement seeing some of the defendants paying a total of $275 million to Activision Blizzard as well as multiple insurance companies. The Board of Directors wrote in a statement that "the transaction, structured through the efforts and significant personal investment of Bobby Kotick and Brian Kelly, has contributed to the creation of over $3 billion of value for shareholders" and that they are "pleased to be able to put this matter to rest." Adjustments have also been made to said Activision Blizzard board of directors and aspects of the corporate structure, with the company paying all legal fees of the plaintiffs. Since multiple defendants were involved in the suit (including Activision Blizzard itself), it's still unclear exactly who took the hit for this particular lawsuit, but it does mean that the matter has been resolved to everyone's satisfaction.
Activision exceeds quarterly projections by $60 million in Q2
An Activision Blizzard quarterly report has revealed that the company behind games like World of Warcraft, Hearthstone, the Call of Duty franchise and Skylanders, has earned $970 million in revenue in its second quarter, $60 million more than its previous projection of $910 million. Activision Blizzard now expects to make $4.24 billion in revenue for 2014, an increase of $20 million since May, when it was predicted that the fiscal year's close would bring in $4.22 billion. So what's behind the jump? While no concrete numbers were shared, Blizzard CEO Michael Morhaime said during a financial earnings call that the company was "very pleased" with the engagement of Hearthstone and its single-player adventure, Curse of Naxxramas. "The fact that last week was our strongest week ever for Hearthstone in terms of both revenue and engagement, I think is a really strong sign," Morhaime said. "It's important to note that we still have yet to bring the game to Android and iPhone devices, and if you look at the response we got from bringing Hearthstone to iPad, which brought in millions of new accounts on Battle.net, I think there's a lot of engagement and opportunity around those platforms as well." As for what's next, CEO Bobby Kotick said he believes that Destiny, the shooter from ex-Halo devs Bungie, will be the largest new IP launch in history. Again, while no definitive numbers were released to quantify the following statement, the earnings report nonetheless states that pre-orders for Destiny are "tracking towards an industry record" for a new IP. Considering how fast the Ghost Edition for the game disappeared from retailers, we wouldn't be surprised. [Image: Activision]
