The 58-year-old executive stands to receive
the payday after clinching a deal on Tuesday to sell Activision to Microsoft
Corp for $68.7 billion, but the vast majority will come from the 3.95 million
Activision shares he owns, regulatory filings show.
He will miss out on a change of control
payment because he doesn't own any unvested equities, which is uncommon for
public company CEOs.
Kotick plans to step down once the deal
with Microsoft closes, which is expected in June 2023, a person familiar with
the matter said. Had he stayed as Activision's CEO, he would have reported to
Microsoft's gaming chief Phil Spencer, a far cry from running a standalone
company.
Kotick, who has led Activision since 1991
and turned it into one of the world's biggest videogame giants, said in an
interview on CNBC on Tuesday that the company had "worked through"
allegations of sexual harassment and discrimination that led to more than 20
employees being fired and 20 more individuals facing other forms of
disciplinary action last year.
A spokesperson for Kotick and Activision
declined to comment.
Activision shareholders only narrowly
approved Kotick's $155 million pay package last year, after investors
criticized the company for awarding him one of the highest compensation
packages in the corporate world.
In response, Activision decreased Kotick's
base salary and cash bonus by 50% and made 95% of his total compensation
subject to performance.
Activision also did away with a
"transformation transaction award" that would have given Kotick a
special payout, whose value would be determined in the future, should the
company have been sold.
In October, in light of the sexual
harassment and discrimination charges at the company, Kotick dropped his salary
to $62,500, the minimum allowed under California law and stopped receiving any
bonuses or equities, vowing to improve the company culture. -Reuters