UPDATE: Activision Blizzard Shareholders Group Calls for Bobby Kotick and Key Board Members to Resign

After yesterday’s trouble report from the Wall Street Journal about Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick and his alleged knowledge of widespread abuse and discrimination, some have called for the CEO to step down. The company’s board of directors released a statement claiming it behind Kotick. Today, a small group of shareholders is calling not only for Kotick to resign but also for board members to resign and change will happen at the corporate level.

The group in question, known as the Strategic Organization Center Investment Group, and which holds 4.8 million shares of the company’s shares, is demanding the resignation of Kotick and some of the longest-serving directors on the board. administrators, Brian Kelly and Robert Morgado retire. at the end of the year. Kelly is chairman of the board and Morgado is the principal independent director. In pledging to believe in Bobby Kotick’s leadership and ability to keep Activision Blizzard on the right track, with its announced zero-tolerance policy and proposed changes, the SOC is threatening to reject or oppose the re-election of board members at the next shareholder meeting in June. .

Although the group is small in size and holds less than 1% of the shares, their stance really has power behind it and the move should not be dismissed. The SOC is known for being home to more activists, as it represents a wide range of labor unions in the US. In a statement by SOC executive director Dieter Waizenegger, for The Washington Post, he said that Activision Blizzard needed new leadership to really change. Add that votes against directors are rare and are generally considered to be caused by serious leadership failure (or something criminal). The decision to promote here is based on allegations against Kotick, lack of trust in leadership, as well as constant investigation and litigation related to the company employment practices and workplace culture.

UPDATE: In an email to employees, Sony’s PlayStation chief, Jim Ryan, criticized Activision Blizzard’s response to the allegations and expressed a lack of confidence in the company’s ability to resolve the situation. Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier also note Ryan is said to have reached out to Activision Blizzard to ask how they intend to continue.

NEW: PlayStation boss Jim Ryan criticized Activision Blizzard this morning, writing in an email to employees that he was “disappointed and truly stunned” by this week’s news. “We do not believe their response statements properly address the situation.” https://t.co/78mvdvqZzs

– Jason Schreier (@jasonschreier) November 17, 2021