Robert A. Kotick | |
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Born | 1963 (age 53–54) |
Other names | Bobby Kotick |
Alma mater | University of Michigan |
Occupation | CEO of Activision Blizzard, member of Board of Directors of The Coca-Cola Company |
Years active | 1983–present |
Known for | Activision/Blizzard Entertainment merger into Activision Blizzard (2007), founding Call of Duty Endowment (2009), King Digital Entertainment acquisition (2016) |
Website | BobbyKotick.org |
Robert "Bobby" Kotick (born 1963) is an American businessman who currently serves as president and CEO of Activision Blizzard, a member of the S&P 500. Activision Blizzard is known for developing and publishing popular entertainment franchises such as Call of Duty, World of Warcraft, Candy Crush, StarCraft, Farm Heroes, Skylanders and Guitar Hero. The company had net revenues of $4.66 billion in 2015, and ended the year with a market value of $29.0 billion. Kotick controls approximately 175 million shares of Activision Blizzard worth approximately $4.66 billion as of February 11, 2016. After Larry Ellison stepped down as CEO of Oracle, Kotick became the longest-serving CEO of any public technology company, having been in his role for 25 years.
After starting his business career as co-founder of a software development company in the 1980s and subsequently working with Leisure Concepts, in 1990 Kotick purchased 9% of the stock in the video game company Activision. He became CEO in 1991. A member of the board of directors of The Coca-Cola Company since 2012, Kotick also serves on the boards of The Center for Early Education, the Harvard Westlake School, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and is the founder and co-chairman of the Call of Duty Endowment, a non-profit that helps unemployed veterans start careers after they complete military service. In 2015 and 2016, Adweek named Kotick to its annual Top 100 Leaders in Media list. In 2016 Kotick was named to Vanity Fair’s New Establishment list for the third time, as well as the Harvard Business Review's annual list of the world’s best-performing CEOs.