Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick will reportedly stay at the company should Microsoft's acquisition fail.
Yesterday on February 9, Yahoo (opens in new tab) reported that anonymous sources told Fox Business that Kotick would maintain his position at Activision Blizzard should Microsoft's acquisition fall through. He "will absolutely remain at the gaming giant to run the company," one source told the channel.
This same source has apparently told Fox Business that Activision Blizzard personnel are still confident that the deal will close between the two companies. Top Microsoft officials, including CEO Satya Nadella, recently voiced similar opinions back near the end of 2022.
That was before a recent UK government provisional ruling, however. Earlier this week, the Competitions and Markets Authority in the UK provisionally ruled that Microsoft's attempted acquisition would reduce competition, and hinted that it may well rule against the acquisition later this year.
It seems confidence is high at Activision Blizzard despite this provisional ruling in the UK, and the fact that the Financial Trade Commission in the U.S. is already planning on reviewing the acquisition in August, taking the deal beyond its original deadline of June 2023.
Kotick, for his part, is far from the most popular person at Activision Blizzard. The CEO was sued last year in May, with plaintiffs claiming that he ignored credible allegations of misconduct at the company, and that he was using the Microsoft acquisition to "escape accountability."
In 2021, the Wall Street Journal (opens in new tab) reported that Kotick knew of the allegations made against Activision Blizzard's reported culture of sexual harassment, and did nothing to change the corporation's policies. The report also claimed Kotick had protected an employee who committed sexual harassment from being fired, and had threatened to kill an assistant over voicemail.
The complaint last year was only the latest in a growing line of Activision Blizzard lawsuits and investigations.
