After a report was published yesterday, which caused much criticism of Bobby Kotick (58) and even led to a strike at the company, a group of shareholders from Activision Blizzard (WoW; Call of Duty) has now called for the CEO to resign.
Who is calling for this? It is a group of shareholders, including the “Strategic Organizing Center (SOC) Investment Group.” Their spokesperson is Dieter Waizenegger, who expresses the wishes of his group in an interview with the Washington Post.
The SOC sees itself as a group that advocates holding managers and companies accountable for “irresponsible and unethical behavior.” They have sent a letter to the board of Activision Blizzard.
The group of shareholders represents 4.8 million shares in Activision Blizzard. This amounts to approximately 275.5 million euros. Six months ago, it was several million more, as the stock of Activision Blizzard has fallen by almost 26% in the last 6 months.
However, the 4.8 million shares only make a small proportion of Activision Blizzard, with a total of about 779 million shares circulating. Companies like Blackrock (58 million) or Vanguard (64 million) hold significantly larger pieces of the software giant, as the Washington Post reports.
“Current leadership at Activision Blizzard has repeatedly failed”
This is what the group wants: The group is calling for the resignation of Bobby Kotick as CEO of Activision Blizzard. They also demand the retirement of two long-serving board members, Brian Kelly (on the board since 95) and Robert Morgado (since 97).
The board publicly expressed its support for Kotick on Tuesday after the Wall Street Journal article. They are set to retire on December 31. The two are the longest-serving board members.
The group states: If the 3 do not resign, they will vote against the re-election of the board at the next shareholders’ meeting in June 2022 and urge other shareholders to vote “no” as well.
Activision Blizzard should fill the positions of Kelly and Morgado with diverse candidates. They wish to have at least one employee or staff member from Activision Blizzard on the board who is not part of the top leadership.
Recently, it became known that 3 women in leadership roles at Activision Blizzard left the company in 2021. Among them was Jen Oneal, the new head of Blizzard: she said, she earned less in her position than her male co-lead.
Waizenegger says: It is clear that the current leadership of Activision Blizzard has repeatedly failed to ensure a safe workplace – that is a prerequisite of their job.
Activision Blizzard needs a new CEO and new board members with the necessary expertise, skills, and conviction to change the company.
Our editor-in-chief has addressed the situation of Bobby Kotick:
If Bobby Kotick does not leave now, Activision Blizzard will lose more talent
