According to recent reports from TechSpot, Bobby Kotick, the former CEO of Activision Blizzard, has reportedly shown interest in acquiring the popular social media app TikTok. Kotick, who is known for his controversial scandals in the past, is eyeing this potential acquisition as a new business opportunity.
The US government has been exerting immense pressure on ByteDance, the Chinese-based parent company of the immensely popular social media app, TikTok, to sell the app. A group of US lawmakers have even gone so far as to introduce a bill that would require ByteDance to completely divest from TikTok within 6 months. Should this bill be passed into law, and ByteDance fails to comply, it could potentially lead to TikTok being blocked from app stores and web hosting platforms in the United States.
A recent report from The Wall Street Journal has revealed that Bobby Kotick, the CEO of Activision Blizzard, is among the interested parties looking to acquire the popular social media app, TikTok. During a dinner event at the Allen & Co. conference last week, Kotick reportedly discussed the possibility of collaborating with other high-profile figures, including OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. The potential acquisition of TikTok has been a topic of much discussion in recent weeks, with several tech giants vying for the opportunity to purchase the wildly popular platform.
Bobby Kotick, who served as the CEO of Activision Blizzard for more than three decades, recently stepped down from his role following Microsoft’s acquisition of the company. Kotick’s tenure at the helm of one of the world’s largest video game publishers was marked by several controversies, including allegations of interfering with game development and playing a role in the cancellation of Blizzard’s games in China. However, his departure was widely celebrated by the gaming community and game developers who had long called for changes to the company’s leadership.
In 2006, Bobby Kotick, CEO of Activision, was accused of threatening his assistant’s life. The following year, he was a defendant in a lawsuit filed by a flight attendant. Starting from mid-2010 until 2021, Kotick has faced multiple allegations regarding his involvement in cases related to misconduct. As a result, Kotick and Activision had to pay $35 million in damages in 2020 for failing to maintain controls to report and address such misconduct. Moreover, in 2021, Activision Blizzard settled a gender discrimination lawsuit in California for $54 million.
The public was incensed and deeply displeased upon learning about the $15 million retirement bonus that was awarded to Kotick by Activision, adding further disrepute to his already tarnished image.
There have been recent speculations that Bobby Kotick, the CEO of Activision Blizzard, is showing interest in purchasing TikTok. Reportedly, Kotick has discussed this possibility with ByteDance’s executive chairman, Truong Nhat Minh. TikTok is currently the fastest-growing social media platform, with an estimated 150 million users in the US alone. Given its massive popularity, the acquisition price for TikTok could easily exceed $100 billion. However, for Kotick’s bid to be successful, he needs strong financial backing from investors like Sam Altman, who has the potential to utilize TikTok’s rich content for training AI models, such as those developed by OpenAI.