Kotick says he will be "available as needed" at Activision Blizzard "to ensure the very best integration"
The CEO declined to say whether or not he will maintain his position once the deal closes.
It's unclear at the moment what role Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick will play once the deal with Microsoft goes through.
Speaking with The New York Times, Kotick declined to say whether or not he would remain CEO of Activision once the deal is closed, but told the paper he would remain "available as needed to ensure that we have the very best integration."
When the $68.7 billion acquisition was announced, it was revealed that Kotick would maintain his position as Activision Blizzard CEO, for now, while he and his team continued to drive "efforts to further strengthen the company's culture and accelerate business growth." But, it was also said that once the ink dries, the Activision Blizzard business will report directly to former Xbox boss and now CEO of Microsoft Gaming, Phil Spencer. It's highly likely that Kotick won't stick around, but if he does leave, he won't go away empty-handed, as surely he will have some sort of golden parachute.
As of the last count, Kotick owns over 4.3 million shares in Activision Blizzard, which if he were to dump some, depending on the current price when sold, he could stand to make a fortune - not that he doesn't already have one. It's reported he's one of the highest-paid CEOs in the country with earnings of $154.61 million for 2020. It is also estimated the man is worth around $7 billion. So, even if he is ousted from the Microsoft-owned company, he won't go broke.
And speaking of money, it's said that should he have been fired by the board of directors, a "without cause" for termination decision against him would have seen Kotick walking off with a check for $265.2 million. If there was found to be "cause" for termination, like say he was found guilty by the board over his supposed complicity in intentionally withholding information on the sexual harassment lawsuit, the check would have been considerably smaller at $264,524, according to Fortune magazine.