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Activision Blizzard (ATVI) shareholders re-elect Kotick to board of directors

Despite various allegations of company mismanagement, CEO Bobby Kotick remains part of the Activision Blizzard board.

TJ Denzer

June 22, 2022 11:05 AM

Image via Activision Blizzard

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Throughout the better part of the last year, Activision Blizzard has faced a wide variety of allegations regarding sexual harassment and toxicity in its workplaces. Throughout this, Bobby Kotick has continued to preside over the company and direct its ongoing affairs as CEO and member of the board of directors. Strangely enough, despite allegations and even accusations of Kotick further worsening the situation, Activision Blizzard shareholders still voted to keep him in the board in its recent shareholder meeting.

The Activision Blizzard annual shareholders meeting took place recently and the details of said meeting were shared in a filing. In said filing, Activision Blizzard shareholders voted overwhelmingly to re-elect Bobby Kotick as one of the members of the board of directors at Activision Blizzard. It wasn’t particularly close either. 533,703,580 votes confirmed Kotick’s re-election, with only 62,597,199 voting against, and 2,162,178 abstaining. This keeps Bobby Kotick on the board throughout the closure of the deal in which Microsoft will acquire Activision Blizzard for around $68.7 billion USD.

Kotick’s continued tenure at Activision Blizzard has drawn a wealth of ire as the CEO has presided over an incredibly troubling stretch of allegations and lawsuits affecting the company. What began with the state of California launching a lawsuit against Activision Blizzard in July 2021 has spiraled into a much larger array of issues at the company, including allegations that Kotick himself may have protected an abuser, threatened employees, and faked an email from fellow Activision Blizzard leadership.

Nonetheless, it would seem that Bobby Kotick is digging in until the deal with Microsoft is done and the recent shareholder vote practically ensures it. While the company has continued to push through choppy seas seemingly caused by its management, it remains to be seen what happens after the deal finishes. Stay tuned as we follow this story for further updates.

TJ Denzer

Senior News Editor

TJ Denzer is a player and writer with a passion for games that has dominated a lifetime. He found his way to the Shacknews roster in late 2019 and has worked his way to Senior News Editor since. Between news coverage, he also aides notably in livestream projects like the indie game-focused Indie-licious, the Shacknews Stimulus Games, and the Shacknews Dump. You can reach him at tj.denzer@shacknews.com and also find him on Twitter @JohnnyChugs.