The CEO of Activision Blizzard Robert Kotick has seen his salary and bonus payments slashed by 50 per cent.
That's according to an SEC filing from the company – as spotted by GamesIndustry.biz – which says that it has renewed its contract with Kotick until March 31st, 2023, but has reduced his financial compensation.
The exec's salary has been cut by 50 per cent from $1.75 million to $875,000 as of the start of 2021, with his bonus also reduced by the same amount. However, with financial targets, Kotick could make up to 200 per cent of his base salary in a bonus.
Overall though, Kotick could earn $1.75 million in bonuses for a year, which is a substantial reduction on the $3.5 million that he previously stood to make. Even with these cuts, the CEO still could be eligible for a $200 million payout this summer due to the company's Shareholder Value Creation Incentive clause in Kotick's contract.
This reduction in pay is likely a reaction to the protests that some investors have made about Kotick's compensation. Activist investor outfit CtW has previously said that Activision Blizzard has "unnecessarily enriched" Kotick, with the firm taking issue with the millions the CEO is paid while also the company has also made substantial layoffs in recent years.
CtW has also taken issue with executive pay over at Electronic Arts in the past, which led to shareholders voting down a proposed pay plan for the company's CFO and CTO, Blake Jorgensen and Ken Moss.
