Gaming giant Activision Blizzard, under the gun from investors over sexual harassment controversies and ongoing executive turmoil, has pulled the escape cord: The company has agreed to be acquired by Microsoft in a $68.7 billion all-cash deal, inclusive of the company’s net cash.
Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick has been rumored to step down amid ongoing SEC investigations and sexual harassment scandals in his company, which employs nearly 10,000 people (more than 2,000 current and former employees signed a letter last year calling the company’s responses to a discrimination lawsuit “abhorrent and insulting,” and more recently, over 1,000 employees signed a petition calling for Kotick’s resignation). The Wall Street Journal reported that Kotick knew for years about sexual misconduct and rape allegations at his company, but he did not act. Yet with this acquisition, Microsoft says that Kotick will remain CEO. As a whole, Activision Blizzard will report to Microsoft Gaming