Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick has come under fire after a new report suggested that he failed to inform his board of directors about years of employees being abused. He is also accused of his own gross misconduct against employees of the company.
In a report from The Washington Post, the group says they want a new CEO “with the expertise, skillset, and conviction to truly change the company’s culture.”
The demand arrives after a Wall Street Journal report found that Kotick intervened to stop one of the company’s harassers from being fired. He also allegedly threatened to have an employee murdered.
The Strategic Organizing Center (SOC) Investment Group also wants Brian Kelly and Robert Morgado, two of the company’s longstanding board members, to return by the end of 2022.
In their demand, SOC says they will not vote to retain the current board if their demands are not met. The next board vote for retention will occur in June 2023.
The move to replace Kotick arrives after the company’s board issues a public statement in which they said the board “remains confident in Bobby Kotick’s leadership, commitment and ability to achieve”.
SOC Executive Director Dieter Waizenegger told The Washington Post that “Activision Blizzard needs a new CEO, board chair, and lead independent director with the expertise, skillset, and conviction to truly change the company’s culture. We need to really have a reset button on the board.”
It’s not just shareholders who want Bobby Kotick to be fired, PlayStation boss Jim Ryan reached out directly to the company to share his concerns with Kotick remaining at the helm of the company. Ryan reportedly told the company’s board that “We do not believe [Activision Blizzard’s] statements of response properly address the situation,” he reportedly wrote.
With employees walking out twice in just four months and reports providing a hideous insight into Activision Blizzard’s allegedly awful workplace environment, the SOC may eventually get their way.
