On November 16, 2021, a report was released claiming that Activision CEO Bobby Kotick was well aware of the harassment at his company. It has also been alleged that he himself abused women both inside and outside of work. Now, new documents reveal Xbox CEO Phil Spencer called Kotick three days later and started talks that ultimately led to this massive $68 billion acquisition.
As discovered by CNBCthese new details about the Activision/Microsoft deal come from a SEC filing was released on Friday. In it we get a full and very detailed timeline of how and when talks between Microsoft and Activision began.
As already mentioned, on November 16 a bomb Bloomberg report It was published that Kotick was allegedly aware of allegations of sexual harassment at the company and that he himself was accused of abusing employees. Following this report, Activision’s stock price fell nearly $10. On November 18, Spencer emailed employees at Microsoft and Xbox that he “disturbed and deeply disturbed‘ through the report and stories from Activision Blizzard. He also claimed to be reconsidering the relationship between Xbox and Activision.
On November 19th, the very next day, Spencer called Kotick and as a result SEC FilingDuring a conversation about something else, Spencer told the CEO that “Microsoft is interested in discussing strategic opportunities” between the two companies. He then asked if it would be possible to speak to Kotick and him Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella the following day.
On November 20, Nadella made it clear that Microsoft wanted to buy Activision.
Less than 8 weeks later, after shockingly fast negotiations between the two companies, Microsoft and Activision announced the acquisition on January 18, 2021. It’s insane how quickly this historic mega deal came about compared to the comparatively much smaller $3.6 billion Bungie Sony deal announced on Jan. 31. According to Bungie and Sony, it took “months” to figure that out.
The reason for the speed is probably the feeding frenzy that started in November. The SEC filing revealed the news that at least four other companies were interested in buying Activision as well. All companies are unnamed in the document, but apparently one company simply wanted to buy Blizzard. However, the Activision board felt it would be too difficult to pull off. It seems Because of the other offers and companies, Microsoft had to be quick and aggressive in its negotiations.
igamesnews reached out to Activision and Microsoft regarding the timing and details disclosed in the SEC filing.
The filing also shows that Kotick will definitely leave with plenty of money. when he goes which is said to happen shortly after the deal closes, he can sell all of his Activision stock and walk away with $410,142,075 based on the $95 per share price Microsoft plans to pay. And if he decides to stay but Microsoft kicks him out anyway, Kotick will still get $14,592,302. Rich slimebags don’t even get fired like normal people.
This new, detailed timeline is revealing and seems to confirm reports that Microsoft did indeed take a tumble after Activision’s stock price crash Bloomberg report in November. It also appears Phil Spencer and others at Xbox have indeed been troubled by reports from Activisionbut not to worried or disgusted to still see an opportunity to buy the company.
