Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotik spoke on stage during the “Management of Achievement: Achieving Lasting Great Results” at the Vanity Fair New Establishment Summit at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts on October 19, 2016 in San Francisco.
Michael Kovacs Getty Images
Coca-Cola Co. said on Friday that Bobby Kotik, chief executive of video game publisher Activision Blizzard, would not run for re-election to the company’s board of directors.
Kotick is retiring as the company works to complete the $ 68.7 billion sale of Microsoft, the largest technology transaction in the United States in history. The deal was announced in January and Microsoft expects it to close in the fiscal year ending June 30, 2023.
“I decided not to run for re-election to The Coca-Cola Company to focus all my attention on Activision Blizzard at this crucial time as we prepare for our merger with Microsoft,” said Kotik, who was the company’s director of 10 years, a statement said.
The 58-year-old Kotik has emerged as a controversial figure in recent months. The Wall Street Journal reported in November that the women had accused Kotik of misconduct, claiming he had not shared everything he knew about Activision’s abuse with the company’s board. The family of an employee who committed suicide filed a lawsuit against Activision in the Los Angeles Supreme Court on Thursday, claiming it was an unlawful death.
Kotik’s involvement in politics also attracted attention. Through secret companies, he is funding Republican campaigns in 2020, as well as Republican causes, CNBC reported last month.
Coca-Cola has a financial relationship with Activision, but the beverage giant’s board decided the relationship was not significant, in part because sponsorship agreements accounted for less than 1 percent of Activision’s gross revenue, according to SEC documentation.
Kotik received $ 340,003 in total compensation for his work on board from Coca-Cola in 2020, the document said.
The SOC Investment Group, a Washington-based non-profit organization that works with union-backed pension funds for shareholder activism campaigns, has called on Coca-Cola Director Maria Elena Lagomasino to persuade her fellow board members not to nominate Kotik for re-election. before Microsoft announced its offer for Activision Blizzard.
Kotik is not fit to be on board Coca-Cola because he learned of abuses from Activision CEO Blizzard, but has tried to detain them or reduce their disciplinary action, among other alleged problems, said Dieter Weiseneger, executive Director of SOC, to Lagomasino in December letter.
“His actions and statement clearly disqualify him, and if he is re-nominated, we will have no choice but to oppose his re-election, as well as that of other Coca-Cola directors,” Waizenegger wrote.
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