CEO Bobby Kotick will leave Activision Blizzard on January 1, 2024 | Schreier: Kotick will depart after 33 years, employees are “very excited.”::Schreier: Kotick will depart after 33 years, employees are “very excited.”

  • @SitD@feddit.de
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    361 year ago

    the shareholders will identify a suitable replacement my dudes, no need to cheer up over this

    • Altima NEO
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      1 year ago

      This was likely the plan before the acquisition. I doubt this came as a surprise to Kotick.

    • @Chunk@lemmy.world
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      141 year ago

      This is standard. You always get rid of the upper management. You give them a lot of money and a round of applause and then you put your own people in. Everyone at the top will be Microsoft.

  • Ab_intra
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    1071 year ago

    Hope he burn in hell. He’s the best example of how not to run a company. It’s insane that he’s not been let go for years now.

      • Ab_intra
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        341 year ago

        I think you’re right. I’m pointing moee to his leadership and how he has allowed sexism and other bad behavior to go on without any consequences. He even told an assistant that he would have her killed… https://www.pcgamer.com/more-shocking-activision-blizzard-revelations-bobby-kotick-once-told-an-assistant-he-was-going-to-have-her-killed/

        He might earn himself and the stockholders a lot of money… But in my eyes he’s a great example of why I don’t like capitalism, but that is another discussion tho!

        • @Mudface@lemmy.world
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          251 year ago

          He’s obviously a terrible human being, I think you have to be to be a wildly successful CEO.

          But those are the people who are best at running companies. I wouldn’t be good at it, because I’m not a piece of shit

          • Ab_intra
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            1 year ago

            That’s what sucks about capitalism. We’re allowing thhattype of trash to run it.

            Wow I’m very anti capitalist today!

      • @CountVon@sh.itjust.works
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        141 year ago

        ATVI’s stock performance only looks impressive if you don’t compare it to anything. Here’s a graph comparing ATVI to ONEQ, which is an ETF that tracks the NASDAQ composite index. If anything, ATVI has been slightly underperforming the market average for most of Kotick’s tenure as CEO.

        To see what “outperforming the market” looks like, compare ATVI to NVDA. NVDA’s stock has increased 16,000% in the 15 years that Kotick has been CEO of ATVI.

        Or to see some video game company stocks that have outperformed the market, compare ATVI to TTWO (Take Two) or CCOEY (Capcom).

        From a purely financial perspective, Kotick was middling at best. He deserves no plaudits. There were plenty of other NASDAQ companies that outperformed the market during the time he was CEO of ActiBlizz, including other video game companies.

        • @Jakeroxs@sh.itjust.works
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          1 year ago

          Take two is three times smaller via market cap and Capcom is 8 times smaller, just saying looking at stock price alone doesn’t tell the full picture.

          Activision has also done multiple stock splits over the last 30 years.

          • @ManOMorphos@lemmy.world
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            21 year ago

            Stock price charts account for all splits/reverse splits, so it wouldn’t be a factor when comparing price over time.

            I agree with the first point though. Even just performing slightly below the market with such a massive company would make Kotick very desireable as a new CEO, unfortunately. Maybe some corps would not be fine with his reputation, but I doubt he will struggle to find a position in a new board room.

              • @QuaternionsRock@lemmy.world
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                01 year ago

                The charts are in percent, not dollars. It doesn’t matter that Capcom is 8 times smaller if investing $1 in it still yields a higher return on investment.

                Also, Take Two may be smaller, but… Grand Theft Auto.

                • @Jakeroxs@sh.itjust.works
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                  11 year ago

                  Not true, because of stock splits

                  Also all I’m looking at is market cap, it doesn’t matter what games you like from them lol

      • Erian
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        11 year ago

        Most consumers just don’t care or don’t know at all who Bobby Kotick is. Call of Duty is so popular, but the people that follow the market or the game industry well enough to know the people behind games aren’t that many.

  • AutoTL;DRB
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    71 year ago

    This is the best summary I could come up with:


    It’s “a massive change for the video game industry,” Schreier writes, which seems almost restrained, given Kotick’s longevity and recent history.

    Kotick, who has led Activision for more than 30 years and orchestrated its merger with Blizzard, had considered stepping down in late 2021.

    Activision was also sued by its shareholders and pressured by state treasurers over its secrecy and responses regarding the California lawsuit.

    In early 2022, Microsoft announced its intent to buy Activision, and the timing, according to reports from Bloomberg and the Wall Street Journal, was not a coincidence.

    Kotick told VentureBeat after the Microsoft announcement that he didn’t believe the harassment and mismanagement accusations hurt the company’s stock.

    He cited delays in shipping Overwatch and Diablo titles, along with Call of Duty’s sales performance.


    The original article contains 376 words, the summary contains 128 words. Saved 66%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!

  • @Dagnet@lemmy.world
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    191 year ago

    Microsoft must have a policy of no stealing breast milk, poor guy lost his job to that (fr tho, he will get a really nice bonus and will never ‘pay’ for the terrible work environment he created)

  • @Zugyuk@lemmy.world
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    241 year ago

    Remember when kotick threatened to kill an assistant, and then they were fired and paid to not talk about it?

      • @jwagner7813@lemmy.world
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        11 year ago

        We don’t know that yet. I dislike Kotick as well, but doubtful that much changes from the monetization standpoint of the company.

        From a purely morale standpoint, it’s mostly a W. But it’s not like Kotick isn’t getting his golden parachute and wiping his tears away with $100 bills.