The CtW Investment Group, whose mission is to hold “directors accountable for irresponsible and unethical corporate behavior”, has condemned the $ 200 million bonus that Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick is set to receive as part of a “Shareholder Value Creation Incentive” clause in your employment contract after the company announced was laying off 50 employees on Tuesday.
“While the increase in Activision’s share price is commendable, as we said last year and we continue to say, this achievement alone does not justify a substantial payment result for the CEO,” said executive compensation research director Michael Varner in the statement. “There are many factors that can contribute to an increase in the stock price of this particular company that may not be directly attributable to Robert Kotick’s leadership. The use of video games as one of the few entertainment options available in the midst of COVID-19 pandemic, for example, has been a blessing to many companies in the gaming industry, regardless of executive talent or strategic decisions. “
As reported by Gamespot, Kotick is the beneficiary of a provision within the “Shareholder Value Creation Incentive” included in its employment contract that allows the CEO to receive the full amount for a capital payment from previous years, regardless of certain goals or milestones have been achieved. This has resulted in Kotick receiving cash rewards since 2017.
The $ 200 million bonus Kotick is expected to receive is being seen as a nuisance by fans of the video game and e-sports giant, as the company has already laid off people twice after recording record numbers of earnings in the past three years.
In his 2018 fourth quarter earnings conference call, which took place in early 2019, Kotick referred to 2018 as “the best in our history” and then started to fire 8% of the company’s workforce totaling about 750 people. And now that Kotick is about to receive a $ 200 million bonus, Activision Blizzard will fire another 190 people, with 50 of them coming of positions associated with eSports.
Esports Observer contacted Activision Blizzard to comment on this story.