Must be nice to be the Activision-Blizzard CEO because Bobby Kotick is rolling in the money. The earnings call for the mega-company has concluded and some interesting facts have come to light, including how loaded the CEO actually is.
According to the 2017 compensation reports, Kotick earned $28,698,375 … and that’s with a paycut! That’s more 300 times the amount the usual Activision employee makes! But the hefty paycheck is nothing new for the suit, he’s been considered one of the highest paid CEOs in America for years now. In fact, that hefty sum up there is almost 4.3 million dollars less than what he reportedly made two years ago … and here I am buying discounted cup noodles.
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When looking at the games under his umbrella though, it’s not hard to understand why those pockets are so happy. Destiny, despite the major backlash, has actually done really well sales-wise, with Overwatch, World of Warcraft, Hearthstone, and even Call of Duty also included. He even owns the company behind Candy Crush, so pretty much he’s everywhere.
For comparison, the average Activision employee makes about $93,660 a year. “Based on the foregoing, our estimate of the CEO-to-median employee pay ratio is 306:1,” according to reports. “Due to the wide variety of job functions within our company, across numerous global jurisdictions, the compensation paid to our employees differs greatly between departments, experience levels, and locations. We believe that our employees are fairly compensated and appropriately incentivized.”
With World of Warcraft’s largest expansion yet coming out this year and a new Call of Duty title on the way, 2018 is looking to treat him even better than 2017 did. Pair that with the second expansion for Destiny 2 coming out soon that have many claiming is the perfect chance for Bungie to make a comeback, and he’s looking at recovering some of that 4 million ‘lost.’
With Activision being behind some of the biggest titles out there, it is good to see success but man. We’re feeling that burn and we’re sure some of the other Activision employees can relate. Still, we’re hoping for a fantastic year for the company and we’re looking forward to seeing what they have in store for us at this year’s E3.
