A group of shareholders owning less than 1% of Activision Blizzard calls for CEO Bobby Kotick and two of its longest serving board members to resign
a basic function of their job.... We need to really have a reset button on the board.” https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ... @ign : Former Blizzard co-lead Jen Oneal says Activision Blizzard rejected multiple requests for equal pay with her male counterpart Mike Ybarra, and was only offered an equivalent contract after resigning from the role. https://www.ign.com/... https://twitter.com/... Manda Farough / @amandafarough : Going for another round with the @SOCInvGrp, eh ATVI? Not sure this will do anything immediately, but here's hoping a shareholder lawsuit is incoming as a result. https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/... Tim Spencer / @thattheretim : @chrissyxchi The group that sent the letter represent 4.8mil shares, out of 779mil total shares. So about 0.6%, which is a long, long way to go before they have any power to make change. Neither the board or Bobby will care about 0.6%. Stephen Totilo / @stephentotilo : @jasonschreier They've gotten non-binding “no” votes regarding pay for EA execs, came close with Activision and have won concessions regarding bonuses at least from EA. Their call for Kotick to resign doesn't have much behind it. But threats to vote down board members aren't toothless. Will Kavanagh / @mistahwoodhouse : @jasonschreier This is also their stated purpose as a group, so a statement like this is expected, not a surprise. It'll be a surprise if Fidelity, BlackRock, or Vanguard makes a statement to this effect, since they're actually top 5 shareholders. Gravy Whitta / @garywhitta : MAKE IT HAPPEN https://twitter.com/... Jason Schreier / @jasonschreier : @stephentotilo Oh it's definitely not toothless, but I think a lot of people sharing and reading this article are under the impression that this is a majority of shareholders, not 0.6% Revo / @revololwarrior : Obviously an extremely good letter and statement, but if you actually read the article the shareholders involved own like ... 0.004% of the company lol. Gonna have to get some big corps on board for anything to happen sadly :/ https://twitter.com/... Chrissy / @chrissyxchi : Bobby better start counting his days https://twitter.com/... Lucy O'Brien / @luceobrien : Through my life I've heard every excuse in the book trying to justify women (including myself) being paid less than their male counterparts, but the truth is it's inexcusable, far too common still, & will always lead to hemorrhaging of vital talent. https://twitter.com/... @a_dmg04 : This is absurd, embarrassing, and continues to happen throughout this industry to this day. Whether it be entry, senior, or leadership level, this industry NEEDS to stop undervaluing woman and underrepresented communities. Pay. Them. Appropriately. https://twitter.com/... Lisa Bloom / @lisabloom : We represent several Activision Blizzard employees and we will continue to fight for justice for them. No employee should be subjected to sexual harassment or discrimination at work. Kudos to everyone who walked out today and who stands up for workers' rights! https://twitter.com/...
The shareholder group controls less than 1% of Activision Blizzard shares, so its immediate leverage is limited; its significance is that it aligns investor criticism with employees’ stated demand for leadership change.
First-order effects
Bobby Kotick and two long-serving directors face a public resignation demand from shareholders, adding investor scrutiny to the employee-led challenge to their leadership.
Activision Blizzard’s board must contend with simultaneous pressure over leadership, workplace treatment, and the allegation that Jen Oneal was denied equal pay until after her resignation.
Second-order effects
Employee walkouts and the shareholder campaign reinforce one another: workforce complaints now carry a governance framing rather than remaining solely an internal employment dispute.
Large Activision Blizzard holders, including named entities BlackRock and Fidelity, become the consequential audience for a campaign whose initiating group lacks voting scale on its own.
Third-order effects
If employees and minority shareholders continue to coordinate around workplace conduct, board oversight of culture and executive accountability becomes a more visible corporate-governance test for game publishers.
The episode points toward workplace disputes being contested through both labor pressure and shareholder channels, with boards—not only management—held responsible for the response.
The trend: Workplace-equity disputes at major game companies are increasingly becoming corporate-governance campaigns aimed at executives and boards.
We have instituted our own Zero Tolerance Policy. We will not be silenced until Bobby Kotick has been replaced as CEO, and continue to hold our original demand for Third-Party review by an employee-chosen source. We are staging a Walkout today. We welcome you to join us.
I'm seeing a lot of big reactions to this story, but some important context: - This group, SOC, owns 4.8 million shares, or just 0.6% of Activision Blizzard - SOC has been criticizing Kotick for a long time. This isn't a turnaround or shift in view from them https://twitter.com/.…
Exclusive: Activision Blizzard shareholders call on CEO Bobby Kotick to resign and the board's two longest-serving directors, Brian Kelly and Robert Morgado, to retire by December 31. The shareholders sent a letter to the board of directors this morning. https://www.washingtonpos…
SOC is an activist shareholder group representing a very small fraction of the company. While it's possible that the Activision Blizzard board will change its mind about Kotick, particularly if more stories come to light, this particular statement isn't exactly unexpected
Former Blizzard co-lead Jen Oneal says Activision Blizzard rejected multiple requests for equal pay with her male counterpart Mike Ybarra, and was only offered an equivalent contract after resigning from the role. https://www.ign.com/... https://twitter.com/...
Kotick sacked J. Allen Brack for the same things that Kotick is now all but confirmed to have done. In fact, the allegations and evidence against Kotick are even more damning. Bobby Kotick must go. https://twitter.com/...
Hey news outlets, do you actually want to put pressure on Activision? Kelsey has started the very hard work of calling out every executive board member and digging up their photos. Take her work and run with it. Expose where else they chair, get people contacting them. https://tw…
I think we often see company leadership as this sort of nebulous concept rather than real people. So hey, let's put some names and faces to all of the people who stand by Kotick's appalling conduct. These are the Activision Blizzard board members: https://twitter.com/...
The board of directors is just as complicit if they let Bobby remain in leadership after this. These people are effectively saying they are okay with a leader who covers up rapes and sexual assaults, sexual assaults people himself, and makes death threats to employees. https://tw…
Going for another round with the @SOCInvGrp, eh ATVI? Not sure this will do anything immediately, but here's hoping a shareholder lawsuit is incoming as a result. https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...
Where are the ABK esports league owners demanding his resignation? Where are industry leaders demanding it? Cowardly behavior from the people who could ACTUALLY incite change. https://twitter.com/...
I hope investors reset Activision. Anyone expressing faith in the CEO needs a reset “it's clear that the current leadership repeatedly failed to uphold a safe workplace—a basic function of their job.... We need to really have a reset button on the board.” https://www.washingtonpo…
@chrissyxchi The group that sent the letter represent 4.8mil shares, out of 779mil total shares. So about 0.6%, which is a long, long way to go before they have any power to make change. Neither the board or Bobby will care about 0.6%.
@jasonschreier They've gotten non-binding “no” votes regarding pay for EA execs, came close with Activision and have won concessions regarding bonuses at least from EA. Their call for Kotick to resign doesn't have much behind it. But threats to vote down board members aren't toot…
@jasonschreier This is also their stated purpose as a group, so a statement like this is expected, not a surprise. It'll be a surprise if Fidelity, BlackRock, or Vanguard makes a statement to this effect, since they're actually top 5 shareholders.
@stephentotilo Oh it's definitely not toothless, but I think a lot of people sharing and reading this article are under the impression that this is a majority of shareholders, not 0.6%
Obviously an extremely good letter and statement, but if you actually read the article the shareholders involved own like ... 0.004% of the company lol. Gonna have to get some big corps on board for anything to happen sadly :/ https://twitter.com/...
Through my life I've heard every excuse in the book trying to justify women (including myself) being paid less than their male counterparts, but the truth is it's inexcusable, far too common still, & will always lead to hemorrhaging of vital talent. https://twitter.com/...
This is absurd, embarrassing, and continues to happen throughout this industry to this day. Whether it be entry, senior, or leadership level, this industry NEEDS to stop undervaluing woman and underrepresented communities. Pay. Them. Appropriately. https://twitter.com/...
We represent several Activision Blizzard employees and we will continue to fight for justice for them. No employee should be subjected to sexual harassment or discrimination at work. Kudos to everyone who walked out today and who stands up for workers' rights! https://twitter.com…
The man literally threatened to murder employees, and they're still going to defend him? If you weren't already boycotting all Activision-Blizzard products, you all better start doing so now. https://twitter.com/...