Thread: Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick agrees to halve salary, but could yet earn more

Mista

Fox Hound
 
Platforms
  1. PC
  2. PlayStation
  3. Nintendo
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Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick has agreed to halve his salary as part of his latest employment contract, but the executive could earn more via long-term equity incentive awards.

The Activision boss, who has drawn criticism for his high earnings at a time when the company is laying off staff in some departments, on April 28 agreed to extend his existing executive employment agreement, according to an 8-K form filed on Thursday.

The previous agreement was due to expire at the end of 2021 but Kotick, who has served as Activision's CEO for over 30 years, will now remain in charge of the Call of Duty and World of Warcraft firm until March 31, 2023.

Effective as of January 1, 2021, Kotick has agreed to reduce his base annual salary by 50%, from $1.75 million to $875,000. Kotick's maximum annual bonus has also been reduced as part of the contract extension.

 
Very nice PR stunt. Most of his income comes from stock options so this "50% cut salary" is pocket change for him.


As Chief Executive Officer at ACTIVISION BLIZZARD INC, Robert A. Kotick made $30,841,004 in total compensation. Of this total $1,756,731 was received as a salary, $2,461,848 was received as a bonus, $19,037,673 was received in stock options, $7,495,745 was awarded as stock and $89,007 came from other types of compensation. This information is according to proxy statements filed for the 2018 fiscal year.
 
Honestly, Kotick needed to be replaced a while back. Sure he might have lifted Activision out of a slump back in the day, but he's had his studios grinding on the same IPs for years with little in the way of R&D for a long time, whilst he just picks up a hefty annual bonus. Albeit he apparently took a minimum wage as some token gesture a while back: -


Considering the crazy money he's earned, it's all a bit too little too late. The big problem I see for anyone coming in is that they basically have probably 3-4 years before they're likely even to have any new projects emerge.