Bobby Kotick

Bobby Kotick, formally Robert A. Kotick, attended the University of Michigan and began developing Apple II software in 1983. He later left college to pursue business. His securities biography records attendance at Michigan rather than a completed university degree.⁠[1][2][3]

Kotick acquired a stake in Activision in 1990 and became chief executive in 1991. His leadership spanned the predecessor company and Activision Blizzard, formed in 2008, until his departure in 2023.⁠[1][4][5]

Alongside his role in game publishing, Kotick participated in other companies’ governance. Coca-Cola’s published biography records his service as a Yahoo director from 2003 to 2008.⁠[1]

Activision and Vivendi Games completed their combination to form Activision Blizzard, with Kotick as president and chief executive. The transaction brought Activision’s business together with Vivendi Games, including Blizzard Entertainment, within one listed company. Its portfolio included Call of Duty, Guitar Hero and World of Warcraft.⁠[4]

Kotick established the Call of Duty Endowment to support employment for military veterans. The organization says a conversation with former Veterans Affairs secretary Jim Nicholson drew his attention to the issue. It used Call of Duty’s brand and player activities to support fundraising. James L. Jones joined as cofounder and cochairman in 2012.⁠[6]

Coca-Cola elected Kotick to its board with immediate effect and appointed him to its Management Development Committee, extending his board service to a global consumer-brand business.⁠[1]

While Kotick continued to lead Activision Blizzard, Vivendi completed the sale of more than 85% of its holding for $8.2 billion in cash. Vivendi retained approximately 83 million shares, about 12% of Activision Blizzard’s common stock, ending its previous majority ownership.⁠[7]

Activision Blizzard completed its acquisition of King for $18 per share in cash, a stated total equity value of $5.9 billion. Mobile titles including Candy Crush joined its portfolio alongside console and PC games. King initially retained its leadership team and operated as an independent business unit.⁠[8]

Coca-Cola announced that Kotick would not stand for board reelection. He said he wanted to concentrate on Activision Blizzard’s preparations for its transaction with Microsoft. The decision brought his roughly decade-long service on Coca-Cola’s board to an end.⁠[9]

The SEC announced that Activision Blizzard would pay $35 million to settle charges concerning disclosure controls for workplace-misconduct complaints and whistleblower protections. The company settled without admitting or denying the SEC’s findings. The announcement concerned the company and was not a judgment imposing individual liability on Kotick.⁠[10]

Microsoft announced that the Activision, Blizzard and King teams had joined Xbox, completing its acquisition of Activision Blizzard. The transaction brought businesses including Call of Duty, World of Warcraft and Candy Crush into Microsoft Gaming, with Kotick subsequently participating in the transition.⁠[11][12]

California’s Civil Rights Department announced an approximately $54.88 million settlement with Activision Blizzard concerning women’s pay and promotion opportunities, including $45.75 million in compensation. The settlement withdrew allegations of widespread sexual harassment, and the court approved it on January 17, 2024. Its scope and dismissal provisions should not be recast as a criminal conviction or trial verdict concerning Kotick.⁠[13][14][15]

Kotick left Microsoft Gaming on December 29, 2023, ending his chief executive tenure at Activision and Activision Blizzard that began in 1991. Phil Spencer confirmed his final day in a staff transition memo that also set out changes to management reporting lines.⁠[12]

Big Shot released a long interview with Kotick. Its episode description and chapter guide cover his college venture with Howard Marks, encounters with Steve Jobs, early backing from Steve Wynn, rebuilding Activision and the company’s sale. These are retrospective personal accounts, distinct from contemporaneous corporate records.⁠[3]

A proposed $250 million settlement of merger-related shareholder litigation would resolve claims against Kotick, other former directors and the companies, along with related counterclaims. The formal notice records defendants’ denials and the absence of an adjudication of wrongdoing. Reporting on September 16, 2026, said approval had been deferred to consider objections; the proposal should not be described as a finally concluded case.⁠[16][17]

Kotick’s appointment as an independent Skydance director took effect on October 6, 2026. He joined the board’s Nominating and Governance Committee; the securities filing identifies him as Robert A. Kotick.⁠[18][2]

After leaving executive management of the gaming company, Kotick continued philanthropic work, including his role as cochairman of the Call of Duty Endowment. He has also served in governance roles at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and Harvard-Westlake School and supported medical research. His Berggruen Institute biography records his endowment of a neuroscience-related chair at Duke University in 2021.⁠[6][5]

Call of Duty Endowment: Official website: https://www.callofdutyendowment.org/ (opens in a new window).⁠[6]

X: Public account: https://x.com/BobbyKotick (opens in a new window).⁠[19]

LinkedInLinkedInLinkedIn is a social networking platform for professionals. It was founded in 2002 by Reid Hoffman and others, launched in 2003, and listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 2011; after Microsoft acquired it for approximately $26.2 billion in 2016, it became a wholly owned Microsoft subsidiary. Its revenue comes from membership subscriptions, advertising, and recruitment solutions.Open the full entry: Public profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bobbykotick (opens in a new window).⁠[20]

YouTubeYouTubeYouTube is Google’s video-sharing and creator platform, founded in 2005 by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim and acquired by Google in 2006. Built around video uploading, viewing, and creator earnings, the platform has developed Shorts, YouTube Music, Premium, YouTube TV, and products for children, and is headquartered in San Bruno, California, United States.Open the full entry: Public channel: https://www.youtube.com/@BobbyKotickATVI (opens in a new window).⁠[21]