More than half of shareholders in Activision Blizzard donated $ 155m to senior Bobby Kotick, following a delayed vote in which opponents say they are trying to avoid embarrassing criticism.
After holding their annual meeting on June 14, the video game company did stopped the meeting until Monday to talk more about the “misleading” payments of Kotick’s 2020 payments. This delay was criticized by the Council of Institutional Investors, which represents major pension funds.
“With only 54 votes cast, the petition was about to be supported by a large number of people – it seems that Activision has just distorted enough for the measure to pass,” said Michael Varner, director of executive pay research at CtW Investment Group.
The company was in danger of receiving just a few bucks after advisers Institutional Shareholder Services and Glass Lewis advised investors to vote.
“The requested shareholders have been able to shed light on the reality of Activision Blizzard’s strict payment system – to do so,” a company spokesman said in a statement.
The company reversed Kotick’s paycheck after a response from shareholders – his 2019 pay package received support from 58% of shareholders. Activision will cut Kotick’s 2021 salary by 50% to $ 875,000 and reinstate the 2021 and 2022 bonuses.
Kotick’s largest package of $ 155m for 2020 was in the awards built with the 2016 goal of increasing revenue in the company’s market, and its shares rose last year amid a coronavirus epidemic. Working hard attracts investors because of high pay, but Kotick’s huge reward brought anxiety.
The deal was pressured by CtW, which asked shareholders to reject the company’s revenue.
Glass Lewis said he did not know anything about the vote.
Advertisers pay the votes of the printing press companies to pay 90%. So far this year, the S&P 500 companies have received 88.6% support on high pay, according to Semler Brossy, a pay consultant.
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