The 58-year-old executive will receive a salary after reaching a deal on Tuesday to sell Activision Microsoft Corp for $68.7 billion, but the vast majority of that money will come from Activision’s 3.95 million shares he owns, according to the regulatory documents.
He won’t receive a change of control bonus because he doesn’t own any unvested shares, which is rare for CEOs of public companies.
Kotick plans to pull out once the deal with Microsoft closes, which is expected to happen in June 2023, a person with knowledge of the matter said. If he had remained the head of Activision, he would have been placed under the authority of Phil Spencer, the head of games at Microsoft, which is far from the management of an autonomous company.
Kotick, who has run Activision since 1991 and made it one of the world’s biggest gaming giants, said in a CNBC interview on Tuesday that the company has “worked through” allegations of sexual harassment and discrimination that have led the dismissal of more than 20 employees and other disciplinary measures for another 20 people last year.
A spokesperson for Kotick and Activision declined to comment.
Activision shareholders only narrowly approved Kotick’s $155 million compensation package last year after investors criticized the company for awarding him one of the highest compensation packages in the business world. .
In response, Activision slashed Kotick’s base salary and cash bonuses by 50% and made 95% of his total compensation performance-based.
Activision also removed a “transformation transaction bonus” that would have given Kotick a special payment, the value of which would be determined in the future, in the event of the company being sold.
In October, in light of charges of sexual harassment and discrimination against the company, Kotick cut his salary to $62,500, the minimum allowed by California law, and stopped receiving bonuses or stock, promising to improve the corporate culture.