Treasurers of six states urged not to allow the re-election of the board of directors of Activision Blizzard
The treasuries of six American states expressed concern about the situation around Activision Blizzard. Since they own part of the company’s shares, they demand to arrange a meeting with the publisher’s board. The main goal of the negotiations is to prevent the re—election of Bobby Kotick and other members of the board of directors.For the first time, the treasurers of California, Massachusetts, Illinois, Oregon, Nevada and Delaware asked for a meeting with the board of directors of Activision Blizzard on November 23.
According to Axios, the negotiations themselves can take place until December 20.
Treasury representatives are going to increase financial pressure on the publisher and urge other shareholders to vote against the re-election of current board members.
“We are concerned that the current CEO and other members of the board of directors do not have the appropriate set of skills, nor the ability to convince others of the need for radical changes. They are necessary to transform the corporate culture, as well as to restore the trust of employees, shareholders and partners,” said Illinois Treasurer Mike Frerichs.
According to Massachusetts Treasurer Deborah Goldberg, Activision Blizzard is obliged to conduct a full-fledged independent investigation. A third-party expert, unrelated to the company, should be responsible for it.
According to Axios, the treasuries of these states operate with assets of various companies worth about $ 1 trillion. However, it is unknown how many Activision Blizzard shares they have at their disposal, and how many votes they have.
The company itself declined to comment to Axios. However, a representative of SOC Investment Group noted that yesterday Activision Blizzard responded to the letter of the treasurers to develop a plan for further action. Recall that in November, this group of investors, who own less than a percent of the shares, demanded that Bobby Kotick be fired.
Exactly how Activision Blizzard will respond to the demands of the treasurers is still unclear. Perhaps the board members will cite the agreement with the EEOC as an argument in their favor. According to it, the publisher has committed to create a special fund of $ 18 million to pay the affected employees.
Previously, US treasurers have not openly opposed gaming companies. However, this practice of pressure on private business is far from new. For example, last year New York State announced that fuel companies would lose access to its $226 billion pension fund.
