According to a report, Activision’s Bobby Kotick is the second highest paid CEO in gaming.

The list ranks the amount of compensation a CEO does for doing their job and includes a mix of salary, bonus, stock and benefits. As Games One explains, “Publicly-traded companies are owned by shareholders, who elect the board of directors, who select the CEO. The board is responsible for compensation, and their decisions are ratified by shareholder vote. The list is democracy in action.”

Second on the list of highest paid gaming CEOs is Activision’s Bobby Kotick, who apparently earns an average of $77,306 (£56,310) an hour.

In 2021, the company released games like Call Of Duty: Vanguard and Diablo 2: Resurrected.

Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick. Image credit: Getty Images

However last year, it was alleged that Kotick was aware of sexual misconduct claims within the company since 2018 but did not inform Activision’s board of directors.

The report by the Wall Street Journal also suggested that Bobby Kotick played a first-hand part in the culture that has embroiled Activision in sexual harassment lawsuits and investigations by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

It’s also reported that Kotick intervened to prevent Treyarch co-head Dan Bunting from being fired, after he was accused of sexual harassment in 2017. Kotick also reportedly told his assistant that he would “have her killed” in a voicemail left in 2006 but Activision has apparently made it clear that its “zero-tolerance” policy of serious workplace misconduct doesn’t apply to the CEO because there is “no evidence”.

In August, Jen Oneal – who stepped down as Activision Blizzard co-head just months after taking the job – expressed concern with a member of Activision’s legal team, stating that “it was clear that the company would never prioritise our people the right way

Kotick did release a statement that said the news “paints an inaccurate and misleading view of our company, of me personally, and my leadership”.

However both shareholders and Activision-Blizzard employees have called for the resignation of Kotick.