Bobby Kotick requests lower $62,500 salary until Activision Blizzard workplace culture improves
Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick asked the board of directors to reduce his salary amidst trouble at the company.
Activision Blizzard has dominated the gaming news cycle over the last several months as employees detail a toxic work environment and tell stories of discrimination and harassment. Since we discovered that the State of California was suing the video game company, Acti-Blizz has scrambled to repair its image and win back the favor of fans and employees alike. The latest chapter in the saga sees company CEO Bobby Kotick formally request that his salary be cut to the minimum as the company continues to address allegations.
In a letter shared to the Activision Blizzard investor relations page, CEO Bobby Kotick reveals that he has requested the board of directors to cut his salary down to $62,500, the minimum under California law, until the company has properly addressed the issues surrounding workplace harassment and discrimination. In addition, Kotick says that he won’t accept any bonuses "until the Board has determined that we have achieved the transformational gender-related goals and other commitments."
In the same letter, Kotick announces a new zero-tolerance harassment policy at Activision Blizzard. “We need tougher rules and consistent monitoring across the entire company to make sure reports are being handled correctly and discipline is appropriate and swift,” he says, referencing the fact that the company would hand out warnings to some offenders in the past. “Our goal is to have the strictest harassment and non-retaliation policies of any employer, and we will continue to examine and tighten our standards to achieve this goal everywhere we do business.”
Bobby Kotick’s request to cut his salary comes about seven months after he pulled in a $200 million performance bonus. Just days ago, Activision's motion to halt the impending lawsuit was denied by courts. As Activision Blizzard continues to navigate the myriad of issues it found itself in, we’ll keep you updated here on Shacknews.
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replyDonovan Erskine posted a new article, Bobby Kotick requests lower $62,500 salary until Activision Blizzard workplace culture improves
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Activision stuff. Bobby Kotick to reduce his compensation
https://www.gamespot.com/articles/activision-blizzard-ceo-bobby-kotick-asks-board-to-reduce-his-salary-and-cut-bonuses-amid-lawsuits/1100-6497483/-
Is there a GoFundMe step up yet?
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Would love to see those earnings call bloopers
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All of his fisting vids are on Stileproject for free.
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He's going down to the bare minimum salary in Ca, which is $62,500 a year for a full time worker.
Also a few other things:
- Zero tolerance harassment policy
- Removing mandatory arbitration
- Raising women/non-binary headcounts by 50% and will be publishing annual reports on salary equality
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Sometimes you just gotta take the good things as they come!
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If delivered as described, then these would be VERY meaningful things, full stop. Actions taken under duress can still have very positive outcomes. In fact, I’d say that the vast majority of meaningful change in this world comes as a result of pressure rather than good will.
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Good, and overdue. Part of the "frat boy" culture stems from having offices that are so completely dominated by men that a woman will often be entirely by herself in a given team, and the people she needs to turn to for help are also men (in some cases, they're as much of a problem as the harassers). We don't need perfectly equal gender counts, but we definitely need women to feel like they belong and have support.
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All good things, didn't he make like $200m last year?
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where is the bare minimum thing coming from? state minimum wage is like $13-14/hr, so i feel like i'm missing something obvious
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He already is a multimillionare. He won't feel this cut at all.
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Even worse,
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Probably just to appease some board members. They'll make it up to him in the future I bet.
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But what about the millions upon millions of stock options that are probably part of his total compensation package? If it's like many other CEOs, the actual "salary" portion is bullshit.
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They're totally going to distribute that back into the employees who aren't making fuck you money, right? Guys? Oh.
Guy's already a multi-billionaire so he's already got fuck you money. This just means he isn't piling on more fuck you money. Which I guess is good, but it doesn't really have any material impact on anything.-
They'll hold the cash and redirect it to him later in other compensation
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Probably stock buyback or something.
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