Bobby Kotick

Robert A. Kotick was born in 1963 in the United States and grew up in Roslyn, New York.He was raised in a Jewish family, having his bar mitzvah at age 14. His interest in business began at an early age. In junior high school, Kotick had his own business cards, and in high school, he ran a business renting out Manhattan clubs on off nights. == Career ==

Early career While Kotick was still a student in 1983 at the University of Michigan, he started a software company called Arktronics with friend Howard Marks in their dorm room. He and his roommate developed a GUI-based integrated software package called Jane for the Apple II. Steve Jobs met with Kotick and convinced him to drop out of college. Kotick took the advice and left the University of Michigan to focus on building his company. In 1987, Kotick tried to acquire Commodore International. He planned to remove the keyboard and disk drive from the Amiga 500 and turn it into a video game system. He was unsuccessful in persuading Commodore's then-Chairman Irving Gould to sell control of the company. From 1997 to 2003, Activision acquired nine development studios and released its first hit game in 1995. Kotick founded International Consumer Technologies. In 1995, International Consumer Technologies became a wholly owned subsidiary of Activision. Activision Blizzard In November 2006, Kotick entered into discussion with French media conglomerate Vivendi. Through its Vivendi Games subsidiary, it owned Blizzard Entertainment and Sierra Entertainment. Shareholders of Activision Blizzard approved Kotick as CEO of the combined company in 2008. Kotick said he aimed to build on Blizzard's successes, including expanding into Asia. Kotick also urged the British government to reward Activision for continuing to invest in the country's pool of game developers by providing Activision with the same kinds of tax incentives provided by Canada, Singapore, and eastern bloc countries. Kotick expanded Activision Blizzard's mobile presence in 2016 when it acquired King, the creator of Candy Crush. He also acquired the professional esports organization Major League Gaming. In June 2017, Fortune reported that Kotick had become "the longest-serving head of any publicly traded tech company." Under Kotick's leadership, Activision Blizzard was named one of Fortune Magazine's “100 Best Places to Work from 2015 to 2018." In November 2022, the release of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II broke record sales for the franchise after crossing the $1 billion mark in ten days. Litigation In 2007, a flight attendant filed a lawsuit against Kotick, Andrew Gordon, and Cove Management, a company the two created to manage their privately owned Gulfstream III jet. She claimed that a pilot hired by Cove had sexually harassed her, and that she had been wrongfully terminated after she had reported the incidents to Gordon. Cove denied the allegations and eventually settled the litigation with the flight attendant. Kotick then became involved in litigation with the law firm selected to defend him, Gordon, and Cove Management, in a dispute over legal fees. The court ruled in the firm's favor and awarded it damages. In October 2021, Kotick asked the Activision Blizzard board to cut his salary to the lowest amount allowed by California law, and not to receive any bonuses or be granted any equity amid lawsuits against the company. In November 2021, an article from The Wall Street Journal asserted that Kotick had been aware of the past allegations, and had protected an employee who sexually harassed from being fired. The article also asserted that Kotick had threatened to kill an assistant on their voice mail. Kotick apologized, and the dispute was settled out of court. In response to the allegations, Activision's Board itself examined the claims made and retained an outside law firm and other advisors, including Gilbert F. Casellas, the former head of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, to conduct independent reviews. In June 2022, the Board filed its findings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission and a summary of the independent review's findings in an 8-K filing. The Board's statement expressed confidence that Kotick "appropriately addressed workplace issues brought to his attention" and supported his efforts to lead the company, while others urged Kotick to resign or to be replaced in light of these allegations. The California lawsuit was eventually settled in December 2023. The settlement agreement stated that there was no evidence of wrongdoing by the company's board, its executives, or Kotick. As part of that settlement, Activision Blizzard agreed to pay $54 million including set-asides to deal with pay and promotion inequality. Media corrections and redactions Following the settlement, numerous publications posted corrections and redactions regarding conduct by Activision, its board, and executives. A correction by news site Engadget stated, “While the CRD lawsuit initially included allegations that Activision fostered sexual harassment, the CRD in January filed an amendment withdrawing these claims." Microsoft acquisition and retirement In January 2022, Microsoft announced its intent to acquire Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion, making it the largest video game company acquisition. The acquisition was completed in 2023. Following the completion of the acquisition, Kotick remained with Activision Blizzard to assist with the transition until he retired from the company on December 29, 2023. == Board memberships ==

Kotick is a non-executive director for The Coca-Cola Company and a board member at the Center for Early Education and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. He previously served as a Yahoo! board member from March 2003 to August 2008. In 2019, Kotick's total compensation at Activision Blizzard fell to $30.1 million, down from his 2018 package of $31 million in salary, bonus, perks, stock and options. 85% of his 2018 compensation came from stock and options. He was the 21st most highly compensated CEO in the United States that year. He also earned 319 times more than the average Activision Blizzard employee's salary of $97,000 in that year, putting him in 75th place among U.S. CEOs. He was working under a deal signed in November 2016 with Activision Blizzard under which he earned bonuses if Activision Blizzard meets certain financial targets related to mergers and acquisitions. The contract locked him in until 2021. In February 2019, the non-profit organization As You Sow ranked Kotick 45th in a list of the 100 most over-paid chief executive officers of the United States. A 180% increase in Activision Blizzard's share price since March 2016 triggered an incentive bonus in Kotick's 2016 contract. Kotick was expected to receive a bonus of $200 million, which was reduced to a bonus package of $155 million following criticism. == Controversial statements ==

Some statements Kotick has made about his business strategy have garnered negative media attention. During the 2009 Deutsche Bank Securities Technology Conference, Kotick stated that "The goal that I had in bringing a lot of the packaged goods folks into Activision about 10 years ago was to take all the fun out of making video games." Following the backlash on this comment, Kotick clarified that his remarks were intended for investors and had been taken out of context. == Honors and recognition ==

• Ranked 50th in Vanity Fair 2016 "New Establishment List" • Ranked 75th on Harvard Business Review's 2016 "Best Performing CEOs in the World" • Ranked 24th in 2016 and 27th in 2015 on the Adweek list of "Top 100 Leaders in Media" == Personal life ==

A native of Long Island, New York, Kotick resides in California with his family. Bobby married Nina Spiegel and they have three daughters: Grace, Emily and Audrey. He and his wife divorced in late 2012. His home in Beverly Hills is filled with Abstract Expressionist art. Kotick identifies as a libertarian and donated to the National Republican Senatorial Committee in 2007 and 2008. In 2011, Kotick had a cameo appearance in the film Moneyball as Oakland Athletics co-owner Stephen Schott. In 2009, Kotick co-founded the Call of Duty Endowment (CODE), a non-profit benefit corporation. The endowment helps soldiers transition to civilian careers after their military service by funding nonprofit organizations. As of 2022, Kotick retains his position on CODE's board. During the COVID-19 crisis, CODE has advocated for employing veteran medics and hospital corpsman as emergency medical technicians and paramedics. Involvement with Jeffrey Epstein In January 2026, it was revealed that Kotick had kept a long-running relationship with child sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, which included Epstein inviting Kotick to events with “the girls” and Epstein being part of the conversation to add micro-transactions to Call of Duty. == References ==