Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick was successfully re-elected to the board of directors for another year as a result of the company’s annual shareholder meeting yesterday. This was despite efforts by company employees and shareholders to oust Kotick, which began in November.
Activision Blizzard have also said they will “carefully consider” whether to go ahead with a proposed report into their efforts to address alleged workplace harassment within the organisation after two-thirds of attending shareholders voted to approve the suggestion. This vote was non-binding, which means Activision Blizzard doesn’t have to act on it. The board of directors had advised shareholders last month not to approve the proposed report.
"Consistent with our ongoing commitments, we will carefully consider the proposal to enhance our future disclosures. Activision Blizzard remains deeply committed to a respectful, welcoming workplace for all colleagues, a statement from the company read. Jessica Gonsalez, one of the founders of Activision Blizzard employee advocacy group ABetterABK, tweeted in reference to the proposed report’s non-binding approval: “The employees will hold them to it.”
Controversy and legal action involving accusations of sexual harrassment, workplace discrimination and poor working conditions at Activision Blizzard still persist. New York pension funds are seeking access to the company’s records in pursuit of CEO Bobby Kotick following Microsoft’s $68.7 billion buy-out of Activision Blizzard, which began in January and was approved in April. Only last week, Activision Blizzard’s board of directors stated that there was “no evidence” of any reported harassment within the company being tolerated.
Other outcomes of yesterday’s shareholder meeting included around 88% of the shares present approving executive compensation, and around 95% voting against adding an employee representative to Activision Blizzard’s board of directors. Really sticking it to the man there, shareholders.
all i’m reading here is that the boys club is alive and well and the whole board needs to get booted out of AB the only place bobby should be ceo of is a prison cell saying bobby and the board will deal with the terrible culture of the company is like getting the wolf to guard your sheep … pure insanity
This is sad news.
Just as with politicians, doesn’t matter how much they messed up they will just be moved to other positions or given a holiday until it calms down.
I hope they keep working on getting rid of him though.
I expected nothing less and haven’t gotten my hopes up for more.
I mean, when the lawsuit fiesta started rolling there were a few things that were certain. And one thing was that the company itself was definitely not going to do more than the absolute minimum it could get away with. Between the CEO, the board, and the large shareholders, they have no desire to rock the boat, so to speak. It goes against their own interests, and turkeys don’t vote for Christmas.
Anything that’s going to happen outside of a few token gestures, is going to happen through the court of law or through worker unions. It’s the US so both of those have bad odds against corporate power, but that’s how it is.
I don’t know. Most of the major shareholders are pension funds and capital funds. They have an obligation to their benefactors, which in the case of pension funds is you and I. We put our savings into their hands with the expectation that they can grow our savings at a certain rate. So all they care about is that their stock investment in Activision Blizzard – made on our behalf – grows. And that’s the same for the capital funds. They don’t rock the boat.
Bobby is just out to keep his own comfortable seat. CEO wants to remain CEO? No surprise.
And the board consist of the same fools that got the company into this mess. They are not going to stain their own fine resumes by admitting serious wrongdoings by themselves. That’s not happening.
It’s either the court of law that smacks them in the head…doubtful… or it’s the workers’ unions that do it…less doubtful, but still.
I wouldn’t put anything into a pension fund if I could help it, but sadly I can’t. Politicians have my arm twisted around my back. Not only does my paycheck lose 8% in ATP, which is a tax for a public pension fund, but I also get another 15% of my paycheck into a private one, and then the holiday system is also a fund.
And not only that, they get untaxed amounts, meaning if I got it paid out I could never gain the same amount of shares and therefore influence as these incompetents can with my own money. :’(
That’s the tragedy of it all. When communists say that the people should control the corporations and riot around against capitalism… I mean that’s a thing. That’s how it’s supposed to work in a capitalist system, but it doesn’t because of political special interests and there is nothing any of us can do about it.