A filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission today provided some startling revelations and confirmations regarding the acquisition of Activision Blizzard by Microsoft. Of particular note is the reveal of when the first hints of negotiation began between Xbox’s Phil Spencer and Activision CEO Bobby Kotick: namely, November 19, just three days after the Wall Street Journal report on Kotick’s mishandling of and contribution to the environment of harassment and misconduct at the company.
There’s plenty more to dig into in the filing, though. In amongst all the legalese across the dozens of pages, we can glean a few extra bits of information. In a subsection titled “Golden Parachute Compensation,” we can find the exact amounts payable to Activision executives in the case of being fired “without cause” or resigning for “good reason.” Kotick’s payout naturally dwarfs those of his colleagues, looking toward a windfall of almost $15 million should he be let go after the deal closes, as is expected to happen.
As an added bonus, Kotick could also get $22 million worth of stock, should Activision’s board see sufficient progress in its attempts to improve workplace culture. Examples of such progress include “launching [a] new zero-tolerance harassment policy, increasing the percentage of women and non-binary people in Activision Blizzard’s workforce by 50%…and increasing visibility on pay equity.”
