Activision Blizzard CEO (and James Corden fan) Bobby Kotick is out – but not just yet
Microsoft finally closed its acquisition of Activision Blizzard today, but it sounds like Bobby Kotick will be staying on as CEO through to the end of 2023.
It may have taken about 20 months, but as of today, Microsoft has officially acquired Activision Blizzard. That of course comes with a heap of questions, and one of the big ones is obviously: what about Bobby Kotick? In an email sent to all Activision Blizzard King employees, as reported by The Verge, Kotick appears to be staying on as CEO of the company, at least until the end of 2023. “Phil has asked me to stay on as CEO of ABK, reporting to him, and we have agreed that I will do that through the end of 2023,” wrote Kotick. “We both look forward to working together on a smooth integration for our teams and players.”
It should be noted that in the past couple of years, there have been calls for Kotick to resign, in part because of sexual harassment and bullying allegations that led to multiple lawsuits. Kotick had reportedly also been aware of said allegations for years, and even had several allegations against him as well. With the deal now having gone through, it’s also possible that Kotick will receive as much as $400 million from Microsoft as a payout.
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