The Wall Street Journal: Activision CEO Bobby Kotick considers stepping down if misconduct problems can’t be quickly fixed

November 22, 2021

Activision Blizzard Inc. Chief Executive Bobby Kotick has told senior managers he would consider leaving the company if he can’t quickly fix the culture problems at the videogame giant, according to people familiar with his comments.

Kotick, who has led Activision
ATVI,
-0.46%
for three decades, stopped short of saying he would step down in a Friday meeting with executives of the company’s Blizzard Entertainment unit, but left the possibility open if misconduct issues across the company weren’t fixed “with speed,” these people said.

Kotick is facing criticism from Activision’s employees, investors and business partners over how he and the company have handled allegations of sexual misconduct. Some employees and investors have called for him to resign in the wake of a Wall Street Journal investigation into his handling of sexual-misconduct allegations and multiple regulatory probes into the company’s culture.

A company spokeswoman didn’t respond to requests for comment.

Shares of Activision have fallen more than 14% since the Journal article published online Nov. 16, and about 30% since the first of the regulatory investigations into the company’s culture was made public in late July.

An expanded version of this report appears on WSJ.com.

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