Bobby Kotick's Strategic Maneuvers Culminate in $69 Billion Microsoft Acquisition

Bobby Kotick, the long-serving CEO of Activision Blizzard, oversaw a tumultuous yet highly successful tenure marked by aggressive acquisitions, strategic financial plays, and the cultivation of blockbuster gaming franchises, ultimately leading to the company's $69 billion sale to Microsoft. His career, spanning over three decades, is characterized by a series of bold decisions that transformed a struggling entity into a global entertainment powerhouse.

Kotick initially secured $300,000 in funding from Steve Wynn for his first software company, Arktronics, during his college years. After an unsuccessful bid to acquire Commodore International and its Amiga platform, Kotick, alongside Brian Kelly, purchased a 25% stake in the nearly bankrupt Mediagenic (formerly Activision) in 1991 for approximately $500,000. He swiftly restructured the company, reverted its name to Activision, and refocused its efforts on video game development and publishing.

A pivotal moment in Kotick's leadership involved the 2008 merger of Activision with Vivendi Games, forming Activision Blizzard. This brought popular franchises like World of Warcraft and StarCraft under the same umbrella as Activision's Call of Duty and Guitar Hero. In 2013, Kotick orchestrated a significant $8.2 billion share buyback, where Activision Blizzard repurchased 429 million shares from Vivendi, and an investor group led by Kotick and Brian Kelly acquired an additional 172 million shares. This move effectively "destroyed Vivendi's" majority control, making Activision Blizzard an independent company once more, with Kotick and Kelly's group holding a substantial 24.9% stake.

Throughout his time, Kotick cultivated immensely popular titles such as Call of Duty, Guitar Hero, and Candy Crush, expanding Activision Blizzard's market reach and profitability. The company's success eventually attracted Microsoft, which announced its intent to acquire Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion in January 2022. The acquisition, completed in 2023, marked the largest in the video game industry's history and saw Kotick retire from the company on December 29, 2023.