US publishing giant Activision Blizzard has hired Daniel Alegre as its new president and chief operating officer.
Alegre will start this role on April 7th, 2020. He comes on board having worked at Google for more than 16 years, starting out as the search and software giant's VP of Latin America back in 2004 before moving to the president role for the Asia Pacific region three years later. In 2012, he was promoted to president of global and strategic partnerships, before rising to moving to head up Google's global retail, shopping and payments businesses in November 2017.
Per an 8-K US Securities and Exchanges Commission filing by Activision Blizzard about his appointment, we know that Alegre is going to be paid $1.3m base salary, with that figure potentially doubling via discretionary bonuses. Alegre is also being granted equity to the tune of $5m, though the first third of this amount isn't vested until March 30th, 2022.
“Activision Blizzard is at an exciting point in its history,” said Alegre.
“In addition to a deep library of owned and internationally beloved franchises, the company has tremendous talent that has built a culture committed to inspiration and creativity. More importantly, through thoughtful and creative games, it connects and engages over 400 million people around the world through epic entertainment. I look forward to helping players around the world connect through quality and immersive games.”
CEO Robert Kotick added: “I was deeply impressed by Daniel’s entrepreneurial drive and broad and deep experience in driving global growth across a variety of businesses in a rapidly changing industry. Our greatest challenges are prioritizing the many opportunities we have and recruiting and retaining the talent needed to execute with focus and excellence. Daniel is a proven leader with a long track record of success doing both.”
Alegre replaces Collister Johnson as Activision Blizzard's COO, though Johnson will remain in a special adviser to the CEO role until June 30th, 2020, when his employment agreement with the company ends. No doubt we'll see him pop up in another exec role shortly after.
“During Coddy’s combined twelve years at Activision Blizzard, he has made extraordinary contributions to the continued success of the company. He has been a transformative leader, a trusted advisor, and an inspiration through his unwavering hard work and determination," Kotick said.
"We are incredibly thankful for the lasting impact Coddy has had on the Company and I am especially grateful for the impact he has had on me personally.”