David Malpass, President of the World Bank, has spoken out against Microsoft’s nearly $70 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard.
As reported by Reuters, Malpass took time during a recent Peterson Institute for International Economics virtual conference to say that the deal between Microsoft and Activision Blizzard is an insult to countries that are still struggling with debt and other issues compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic. With developers and gamers still trying to figure out what the acquisition means for the gaming industry, the president of the global financial group knows that the $70 billion price tag is more than the International Association Development budget needed to invest in some of the world’s poorest countries.
Malpass said he was struck to learn about Microsoft purchasing the Call of Duty publisher for $68.7 billion during a time when wealthier donor countries agreed to contribute $23.5 billion in cash to the IDA — that’s $8 billion annually over the last three years. The acquisition won’t be finalized until fiscal year 2023, pending regulatory approval and other factors.
“You have to wonder: ‘Wait a minute, is this the best allocation of capital?'” he said. “This goes to the bond market. Huge amounts of flows are going to the bond market, and basically that’s a very small portion of the world that has access to bond financing.”
The president added that he wants to see more money being allocated to small businesses and infrastructure in developing countries in order to address the flow of refugees, hunger, and poverty rather than those in more opulent countries like the U.S. In other words, he doesn’t want the rich getting any richer than they already are.
