Activision CEO Bobby Kotick given a 50% salary paycut following criticisms of being overpaid
Activision has been the target of plenty of industry jokes and drama for years now, but one of the most egregious of which--outside of their handling of Blizzard--has been CEO Bobby Kotick's salary. As the boss of Activision, Kotick made $1.75 million dollars annually and further raked in bonuses totalling around $28.5 million in 2019, with his earnings being so sky-high that the CtW Investment Group noticed and took aim at Kotick, saying his earnings were excessive for what he does, and non-profit website As You Sow calling him one of the most overpaid CEOs in the world.
In what seems to be a form of response to said criticisms, Kotick is facing a paycut of 50% this year. His $1.75 million dollar salary is being reduced to $875,000, while his yearly bonus has been halved as well. The latter of which is an extra payout, dependant on how the company performs throughout the fiscal year. This decision also follows two major incidents of Activision Blizzard laying off staff, with 2019 seeing over 800 employees laid off, and "dozens" being booted as recently as March of this year.
However, despite the paycut, there are still two points to keep in mind. The first of which is the fact that the CtW has noted that Kotick will be earning a stock bonus this year, worth around $200 million, though the "exact" amount hasn't been fully confirmed by Activision itself. Also, Kotick can raise his pay 200% of the reduced amount, should Activision surpass certain milestones regarding its shareholders. A legal report filed by Activision Blizzard shows that this decision was done as a "result of shareholder feedback", and that because of this, the millions he's making now puts him in "the bottom quartile of the average base salary of CEOs of peer companies".
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