Activision Blizzard had a nightmarish 2021. with historical allegations of harassment that have caused enormous upheavals in the company, several high profile lawsuits, and the departure (or layoffs) of many key executives and developers. You would think that this mess would fall at the feet of the company’s CEO, Bobby Kotick, and result in either his resignation or his ousting by the board.
After all, it has become so bad this week that employees keep going out and PlayStation boss Jim Ryan even exclaimed Activision’s timid response to the events, said he felt “discouraged and frankly stunned”.
You would be wrong, of course, because we live in a late-stage capitalist dystopia where the men who run companies like Activision seem more interested in maintaining their power than blaming themselves for their toxic leadership culture helped maintain and, in Kotick’s case, to protect.
Perhaps the wildest part of all of this, however, is that, for what we now know about Activision, its leadership, and the actions of its CEO, not only did Kotick not step down, but the company’s board of directors as well made a public statement defending him and held on to her husband:
Activision Blizzard’s board of directors remains committed to making Activision Blizzard the most welcoming and inclusive company in the industry. Under the leadership of Bobby Kotick, the company is already implementing industry-leading changes, including a zero-tolerance policy on harassment, a commitment to significantly increasing the proportion of women and non-binary people in our workforce, and significant internal and external investments accelerate the opportunities for diverse talent. The board of directors remains confident that Bobby Kotick has adequately addressed the workplace issues brought to his attention.
The goals we have set for ourselves are both critical and ambitious. The board remains confident in Bobby Kotick’s leadership, commitment and ability to achieve these goals.
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Incredible. The most revealing thing about this statement and what the scruffy power structures of the ruling class in America of the 21st century are doing on it: people make money.
Early retail numbers from the latest call of Duty Game, vanguard, show that UK sales are 40% lower than last year Black Ops Cold War (American numbers have yet to fall). The enterprise has lost 29% of its total player base in the past three years. Blizzard hasn’t released a new video game since 2016. And even the company’s share price would surely be what a board member would be most interested, has subsided and started its slide around the time this whole scandal started:
now even shareholders are demanding his resignation. There is literally no need to defend this man! Indeed, these are all very compelling reasons for his resignation or even his dismissal. The company’s name is being dragged through the mud, it is the focus of a very large legal battle, and its stock price has fallen 28% for the year. And yet, Activision Blizzard’s board of directors not only failed at all of this, but publicly backed Kotick.
So let’s meet these people! It seems silly to continue to refer to them as “The Board” as if they were a mysterious, faceless group working out of the shadows. This is the board of directors of a video game company we’re talking about, not the Human Instrumentality Committee. It is only right that when we look at their actions and wonder what could lead a person to publicly support this man, that we can bring some names, institutions, charities, jobs, and stories.
BOBBY KOTICK
“Robert Kotick’s mother dates his compulsive capitalism to toddler age when young Bobby sold her ashtray to a friend who came over for a play date”, opens this glow Forbes Profile from 2009. “He made $ 3. After that, the ideas about making money never stopped. “
Kotick’s name appears in Jeffrey Epstein’s “Little Black Book”.
REVETA BOWERS
Bowers is one of only two women on the ten-person board. She also serves on the “Board of Directors of the LA Philharmonic, Advisory Board of the Edward E. Ford Foundation, Advisory Board of the Rossier School of Education, Advisory Board of the Dream Fund for Scholars, Board of Directors of Teachers College, Columbia University and the Board of Directors of the FEDCO Charitable Foundation.” She previously served on Disney’s board of directors and in 2004 was part of an SEC investigation (which was later settled) into allegations Disney executives and board members hired their own children in high-paying positions when their own son Craig got a job that paid $ 81,000 a year.
You can read more about the SEC case in this New York Times report.
CASEY WASSERMAN
Wasserman, chairman and CEO of his own company, also sits on the boards of Saban Capital Acquisition Corp and Vox Media, the publishers of websites like The edge and Polygon. Vasserman is on the Organizing Committee of the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Los Angeles, and also appears in Epstein’s Little Black Book.
PETER NOLAN
A money man who has held managerial positions in the banking and investment business for decades, Nolan “currently active on the board by AerSale Holdings, Inc., Diamond Wipes International, Inc., and Golden Road Food Services, LLC. “
BARRY MEYER
Meyer is a former chairman of Warner Brothers, where he served from 1971 to 2013. While serving on the boards of a number of Hollywood organizations, he currently serves on the boards of Human Rights Watch and the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco.
BRIAN KELLY
Kelly is an Activision Lifer and has been with the company since 1991. Together with Kotick he founded the Call of Duty Endowment and is also the “Trustee of the New York-Presbyterian Hospital and founder and chairman of the Juvenile Diabetes Cure Alliance”.
Dawn OSTROFF
Ostroff is the only other woman on the board of directors to work at Spotify, but is also a co-founder of Conde Nast. She has previously worked at Paramount, CW, Lifetime and Disney.
ROBERT MORGADO
Another long-time employee, Morgado, has been with the company since 1997, having previously worked at Warner Music Group, where he worked In 1995, after a failed restructuring plan, forced to resign. He also serves on the boards of a real estate investment company and the Maui Arts & Cultural Center.
ROBERT CORTI
Corti, a certified public accountant, previously worked for Avon for 25 years, where he still serves on the board. He is also on the board of Bacardi, was a director at ING Direct and is a member of the Manhattan Chapter of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. He has served on the board of Activision Blizzard since 2003.
HENDRIK HARTONG III
Hartong was a former marketing man at Activision, running the private equity firm Brynwood Partners, founded by his father. He previously worked for Nestle, another company known for not giving a shit what people think of them. When Brynwood took over a New York cookie factory in 2006 and immediately announced that it would cut wages and benefits, workers went on strike, storytelling New York Times “The financiers and speculators have brought the American economy to its knees. Brynwood Partners financiers attempt to bring 135 workers to their knees and hire scabs to do their jobs. The workers of Stella D’Oro take a stand against the destruction of our economy. “
You can Read more about the strike in this one New Yorker Specialty.
I’m sure this support has little to do with Kotick’s 30 years on the board of Activision Blizzard, Brian Kelly 26, Robert Morgado 24 and Robert Corti 18 years.
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