Game company Activision Blizzard has recently revealed that CEO Bobby Kotick will be getting his salary cut, but there is a catch.
Instead of kicking him out from the company, it will extend Kotick’s tenure. There will be a cut of his salary and annual bonus by 50 percent. The contract was supposed to end on December 31, 2021, but it will now be extended to March 31, 2023.
The company’s board has decided to do this based on the shareholder feedback to “incorporate market best practices, and continues to directly connect pay to performance.” What also contributed to the decision was him volunteering in reducing his base salary by 15 percent in 2020.
Two of Kotick’s bonuses called Transformation Transaction Award, and Shareholder Value Creation Incentive have been removed as well. Effectively starting January 1, 2021, and until the end of the contract extension in March 2023, his salary will now drop from $1.75 million to $875K.
Kotick might earn about the same salary over the next two years it seems. The filing states that he is still eligible for an annual bonus that could go up to 200 percent of his base salary, which is already reduced. 80 percent of that bonus will be based on Activision Blizzard’s financial objectives and 20 percent are reserved for measurable ESG or environmental, social, and governance.
So, instead of doubling the value, Kotick might just retain the same value instead.
Source: Activision via Wowhead, VG247
