Activision Blizzard CEO To Get Even Bigger Bonuses...

Krazy925 said:
Short-term profits should be allied with an increase in the long-term value of a company. I don’t think anyone from c suites around the world would argue with that quote from the ex CEO of GE jack welch.
The hierarchy you laid out doesn’t make sense. Unless by employees you mean innovation. Employees do matter but depending on the product or service being customer centric can be paramount depending on how many other firms you are competing with.

I don’t think anyone can disagree that if you have a good product and employees who don’t mind making suggestions about manufacturing or iterating on the product then the shares will rise. You need innovation from staff.
All I’m saying is when I’m meeting with outside investors they do care about shareholder metrics. Interestingly short term profit maximization doesn’t reflect in the stock value many times anyways especially if it’s not sustainable. They absolutely love when you can either produce faster or cheaper because of suggestions from “the floor”.

I’ll wrap this up by saying fuck Bobby Kotick though. I don’t give blizzard much money anymore because I don’t like what they’re making. He’s said quite specifically many times that he’d rather make annualized games for consistent profits rather than one off titles. See SC2 being episodic.
$200 GC though seems unusually tone deaf.
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Nope, Employees matter more to the company than anyone else, for most industries.

It's been proven in study after study. Happy employees who feel valued, properly compensated, and not under threat of constant doom? Are significantly more productive for their employer.

Happy Employees will treat customers better, resulting in happier customers (and generally more sales)

Happier customers will say good things about your company, and yadda yadda.

Shareholders benefit from this.

Shareholders do NOT generate profit or anything useful for the company.
 
Ragenrok said:
I don't understand what the freak out is about with the layoffs? From what I understand these people are part of things like their live e-sports competitions which because of covid and the shift to virtual competitions are all un-needed jobs since they aren't doing any in-person events right now, it makes complete sense and would be silly not to do. As for the bonus to the CEO, I'm jealous as fuck but if he's performing and the company is making good profits then he gets payed for it.


I don't know why people are trying to spin this as they only got a $200 gc as a severance package, they are all getting a MINIMUM of 90 days pay + 1 year of health insurance + 200 gc so lets drop this silly BS about how they aren't getting fair severances.
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This guy gets it. That whole industry is down. They actually made it a lot longer than my friends in event planning in biotech.
 
Guarana [BAWLS] said:
And at this point the shareholder myth needs to die. Employees, Customers, and then shareholders are what should matter, in that order.

See: https://www.forbes.com/sites/steved...older-value-is-finally-dying/?sh=589f10666746
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I don’t have a problem with maximizing shareholder value since they are, quite literally, the owners of the company. I do have a problem with the out of control compensation for the C-suite specifically because it often doesn’t maximize shareholder value. I have even more of a problem with golden parachutes for terrible executives. People should be compensated by their market value, but the old boys clubs that run the C-suite has really broken the market at the senior level of management. It’s fair to say that companies should be able to pay executives what they want, but the boards often control most of the voting shares and can use that for personal and mutual benefit at the expense of the common shareholder. That’s where I have a problem.
 
Guarana [BAWLS] said:
Nope, Employees matter more to the company than anyone else, for most industries.

It's been proven in study after study. Happy employees who feel valued, properly compensated, and not under threat of constant doom? Are significantly more productive for their employer.

Happy Employees will treat customers better, resulting in happier customers (and generally more sales)

Happier customers will say good things about your company, and yadda yadda.

Shareholders benefit from this.

Shareholders do NOT generate profit or anything useful for the company.
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It’s the classic shareholder vs stakeholder argument.

Shareholders not providing anything for the company is laughable. They literally provided capital for a stake in the business. Yikes.

You’re saying broad things without some much needed caveats. If workers are low skill and easily replaceable than happiness isn’t a primary goal.

If they’re highly skilled or hard to replace than that becomes more important. This is also why executives demand a high salary. They are viewed as being highly skilled. I’m open to you saying they aren’t. I say it quite a bit when dealing with executives.

The people that were fired are skilled in an industry that has seen a huge reduction in workforce thus easily replaceable in the future.
 
Krazy925 said:
Offering golden parachutes widens the pool of applicants and attracts high-level employees. Reduce/Remove conflict of interest during a merger: Often during a merger, executives are nervous about their job security and can be tempted to delay or sabotage the merger through defenses such as a poison pill.
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So the stacked board gives their Ivy League buddy his $50 million golden parachute to reduce his risk, and the employee with a wife and two kids to feed gets a $200 Battle.net gift card. Cool, shareholder value secured!

I’d like to add that I’m personally a fiscal conservative and ardent capitalist, but I also understand why people are fed up when they constantly see BS like that. Granted, there are some CEOs and managers that are worth it, but there are plenty who aren’t. There is a lot of executive compensation inflation taking place now that is not providing any real added benefit to shareholders or employees, and that’s precisely why I have issues with it.
 
Krazy925 said:
It’s the classic shareholder vs stakeholder argument.

Shareholders not providing anything for the company is laughable. They literally provided capital for a stake in the business. Yikes.

You’re saying broad things without some much needed caveats. If workers are low skill and easily replaceable than happiness isn’t a primary goal.

If they’re highly skilled or hard to replace than that becomes more important. This is also why executives demand a high salary. They are viewed as being highly skilled. I’m open to you saying they aren’t. I say it quite a bit when dealing with executives.

The people that were fired are skilled in an industry that has seen a huge reduction in workforce thus easily replaceable in the future.
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I agree with you on this, but I do also think that executive compensation packages are really getting out of control at this point, and I don’t think this is always to the benefit of shareholders.
 
HockeyJon said:
So the stacked board gives their Ivy League buddy his $50 million golden parachute to reduce his risk, and the employee with a wife and two kids to feed gets a $200 Battle.net gift card. Cool, shareholder value secured!

I’d like to add that I’m personally a fiscal conservative and ardent capitalist, but I also understand why people are fed up when they constantly see BS like that. Granted, there are some CEOs and managers that are worth it, but there are plenty who aren’t. There is a lot of executive compensation inflation taking place now that is not providing any real added benefit to shareholders or employees, and that’s precisely why I have issues with it.
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Did you miss where they got 3 months pay AND healthcare for a year? Many CEOs are worth it. I hate Bobby but he’s done a good enough job. I don’t support him though.

These people aren’t abused and the idea they didn’t know this was coming would be more alarming to me.
 
jfreund said:
What would make it messed up is if Actiblizz reported the gift card as taxable income.
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Well it absolutely is, and will be reported as such. Much in the same way they'll also call the health insurance they're paying fora s a business expense, this gift is also a business expense. So in the great land of corporate welfare taxes, that's money they are not accountable for from a tax perspective, however the poor guy who gets fired is responsible for the tax liability.
 
jfreund said:
What would make it messed up is if Actiblizz reported the gift card as taxable income.
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I think in france tax law:
These gifts can be deducted from the tax profit by the company. In addition, they do not constitute a taxable salary for the beneficiary employee when their value does not exceed €169 per event and per calendar year.

200 would be just below the 201 USD limit I think.
 
LukeTbk said:
I think in france tax law:
These gifts can be deducted from the tax profit by the company. In addition, they do not constitute a taxable salary for the beneficiary employee when their value does not exceed €169 per event and per calendar year.

200 would be just below the 201 USD limit I think.
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But dang, a gift card? That really does seem kinda awful.

I would expect those folks really would like nothing to do with the company which fired them. But maybe that's the point, if they don't redeem it - profit?
 
OutOfPhase said:
But dang, a gift card? That really does seem kinda awful.
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It depends, in that case COVID measure destroyed their industry of live event and the company kept them employed for a very long time (I imagine with the help of government measure) and gave a generous severance package, I am not sure they leave particularly angry. One variable here, do they used to get those every year (say at Christmas) and it is simply not having this year gift card taken away from them instead of an gift, I think gift card is quite common for Blizzard employee, it is maybe not special.
 
Ragenrok said:
I don't understand what the freak out is about with the layoffs? From what I understand these people are part of things like their live e-sports competitions which because of covid and the shift to virtual competitions are all un-needed jobs since they aren't doing any in-person events right now, it makes complete sense and would be silly not to do. As for the bonus to the CEO, I'm jealous as fuck but if he's performing and the company is making good profits then he gets payed for it.
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What exactly did Bobby do to earn that money? I'm guessing not ethical things. Does Bobby Kotick even make games? Does he even play them? What the fuck does CEO's do anyway?

I don't know why people are trying to spin this as they only got a $200 gc as a severance package, they are all getting a MINIMUM of 90 days pay + 1 year of health insurance + 200 gc so lets drop this silly BS about how they aren't getting fair severances.
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That's only 3 months. Garbage men get better severance packages then that.
 
Bobby Kotick is basically a shit goblin straight from hell. One of the worst, greediest CEOs there is. Sadly this is nothing new for him, but now that investors and shareholders are getting pissed off about it, maybe they will finally do something.
 
DukenukemX said:
What exactly did Bobby do to earn that money? I'm guessing not ethical things. Does Bobby Kotick even make games? Does he even play them? What the fuck does CEO's do anyway?
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Basically...
 
DukenukemX said:
What exactly did Bobby do to earn that money? I'm guessing not ethical things. Does Bobby Kotick even make games? Does he even play them? What the fuck does CEO's do anyway?


That's only 3 months. Garbage men get better severance packages then that.
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What I think is funny about this is you trying to discount the fact that he got a nearly bankrupt activision back on its feet. You don’t have to like the guy but he’s made a lot of savvy business decisions. He also sounds like a total nerd when you read that he had business cards in middle school. Like I said before I don’t even like the guy but Tony hawk pro skater, gun, tenchu and zork were all awesome games/series.

Maybe they should unionize at activision if they want a better severance package?
 
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MavericK said:
Bobby Kotick is basically a shit goblin straight from hell. One of the worst, greediest CEOs there is. Sadly this is nothing new for him, but now that investors and shareholders are getting pissed off about it, maybe they will finally do something.
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They might actually read and understand a contract then?
 
jfreund said:
What would make it messed up is if Actiblizz reported the gift card as taxable income.
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The thing is, it almost certainly is. Even gifts over a certain amount are taxable income. You win $1000 playing bingo down at the local parlor, they're gonna get your name and SSN and cut you a 1099 or whatever form is appropriate.
 
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Guarana [BAWLS] said:
Not even slightly:
A Cell Phone is a service I'm going to be paying for no matter what. Giving someone 6-12 months service on something they're GOING to be paying? That's a legitimate service to them.

200 bucks B.Net cash? Ain't in any way, shape or form the same thing.
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The point that I think was missed is everyone sees value differently.

They can give x in their own type of cash or nothing. I suppose the person is free to not use it.

You see value in a phone service because you use it. They see value in their form of cash because people use it.

A company owes you up until the time you both part ways. Severance is nice but it’s not something your entitled to. If they understood what they were giving as severance when they worked there.... I am sure they did....They were also free to leave and find a different more generous company to work for.
 
Krazy925 said:
Did you miss where they got 3 months pay AND healthcare for a year?
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That's better than a lot of people got, and if the company picks up 100% of their insurance premiums, that's actually pretty impressive. (Doesn't mean the CEO's a knight or anything, but it could've been a lot worse.)
 
DukenukemX said:
What exactly did Bobby do to earn that money? I'm guessing not ethical things. Does Bobby Kotick even make games? Does he even play them? What the fuck does CEO's do anyway?


That's only 3 months. Garbage men get better severance packages then that.
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Well he runs the company and its making a good profit, neither you or I know what he actually does throughout the day but whatever it is it's obviously enough.

Garbage men are also unionized, what's your point? I've worked for companies that only gave the bare minimum legally required for a layoff (2 weeks) and a police escort out the door so what your point? 3 months + healthcare is decent and better than a fuck off note.
 
DukenukemX said:
What exactly did Bobby do to earn that money? I'm guessing not ethical things. Does Bobby Kotick even make games? Does he even play them? What the fuck does CEO's do anyway?


That's only 3 months. Garbage men get better severance packages then that.
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No garbage men out there gets a severance package. Most people don't get shit actually. They have to rely on unemployment.
 
vegeta535 said:
No garbage men out there gets a severance package. Most people don't get shit actually. They have to rely on unemployment.
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When I looked it up a bunch of outlets had similarly quoted and written articles. I don't know much about garbage man severance but I guess now I do.

https://money.cnn.com/2016/02/24/news/economy/trash-workers-high-pay/

"Biderman argues the waste industry offers long-term job security for working class folks. Both Molina and Sankar have full health care coverage and a 401(k) retirement account. If they leave the job, they are entitled to severance pay too."

Anyways Bobby Kotick can be a bad guy and still be good at business. It does help sometimes even.

I don't want to drag this further off thread.
 
vegeta535 said:
No garbage men out there gets a severance package. Most people don't get shit actually. They have to rely on unemployment.
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The employer that lost their jobs because their industry went on a pause a year a ago are french.

French law make some obligation to have a severance package:
Employees with eight months of seniority or more for the same employer on an open-ended contract are legally entitled to severance compensation in case of dismissal on economic grounds or for personal reasons. However, employees are not eligible for severance compensation in case of dismissal for misconduct or negligence.

Even though regulated, the law only establishes a minimum threshold for severance payments. The latter are calculated upon the gross monthly salary of the employee before the termination of the employment contract. Accordingly, they cannot be lower than the following amounts:

  • 25% of the gross monthly salary times years of seniority, for employees with up to 10 years of seniority;
  • 33.33% of the gross monthly salary times years of seniority, for employees with 11 years of seniority or more
If you worked 8 year's somewhere, you should be eligible to around 2 month of salary, i.e. the 3 month was probably a good deal much higher than the minimum, I think 6 month of insurance is a norm as well (making the 12 month deal probably among the good deal there).
 
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LukeTbk said:
The employer that lost their jobs because their industry went on a pause a year a ago are french.

French law make some obligation to have a severance package:
Employees with eight months of seniority or more for the same employer on an open-ended contract are legally entitled to severance compensation in case of dismissal on economic grounds or for personal reasons. However, employees are not eligible for severance compensation in case of dismissal for misconduct or negligence.

Even though regulated, the law only establishes a minimum threshold for severance payments. The latter are calculated upon the gross monthly salary of the employee before the termination of the employment contract. Accordingly, they cannot be lower than the following amounts:

  • 25% of the gross monthly salary times years of seniority, for employees with up to 10 years of seniority;
  • 33.33% of the gross monthly salary times years of seniority, for employees with 11 years of seniority or more
If you worked 8 year's somewhere, you should be eligible to around 2 month of salary, i.e. the 3 month was probably a good deal, I think 6 month of insurance is norm as well (making the 12 month deal probably among the good deal there).
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One thing people don't know about places like that is that the law also requires the same type of commitments from employees. You can't just quit and leave on the spot. After a certain amount of seniority you actually have to give a month+ of notice before you quit or you'll be forced to pay back your salary.
 
sharknice said:
One thing people don't know about places like that is that the law also requires the same type of commitments from employees. You can't just quit and leave on the spot. After a certain amount of seniority you actually have to give a month+ of notice before you quit or you'll be forced to pay back your salary.
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I honestly don't get why any employee need/should give notice they are leaving. Here in america you are rarely given notice you are getting fired or laid off. I don't understand why as a employee you should give two weeks notice. I never did. I normally walk into my bosses office and quit the last Friday. Normally giving myself a week off between quiting and starting a new job.
 
vegeta535 said:
I honestly don't get why any employee need/should give notice they are leaving. Here in america you are rarely given notice you are getting fired or laid off. I don't understand why as a employee you should give two weeks notice. I never did. I normally walk into my bosses office and quit the last Friday. Normally giving myself a week off between quiting and starting a new job.
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It's a courtesy if you ever want to use them as a reference post employment. The world isn't fair, but if you just up and leave, there's no reason the company would bother to give you that reference. In fact depending how much this sudden loss of your work hurts the company, they may share only the negatives about you upon a call. Companies have infinitely more power than you realize, are you willing to throw your reputation and standing in your industry away over a simple courtesy? This is the world we live in, and while not all industries operate this way most in the professional space do.
 
arnemetis said:
It's a courtesy if you ever want to use them as a reference post employment. The world isn't fair, but if you just up and leave, there's no reason the company would bother to give you that reference. In fact depending how much this sudden loss of your work hurts the company, they may share only the negatives about you upon a call. Companies have infinitely more power than you realize, are you willing to throw your reputation and standing in your industry away over a simple courtesy? This is the world we live in, and while not all industries operate this way most in the professional space do.
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Of course. I don't do it til I have another job already lined up.
 
vegeta535 said:
Of course. I don't do it til I have another job already lined up.
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Here's hoping no job ever turns out to be crap after a few weeks, they let YOU go shortly, or a job wants to look further back than just the last job you had. A shortsighted position and not good advice for most people.
 
arnemetis said:
In fact depending how much this sudden loss of your work hurts the company, they may share only the negatives about you upon a call.
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Not in the US, after there were lawsuit threats. Most companies these days will do nothing more than confirm a person used to work there.
 
jfreund said:
There may be a time you want to return to a former employer. Best not to burn bridges.
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arnemetis said:
Here's hoping no job ever turns out to be crap after a few weeks, they let YOU go shortly, or a job wants to look further back than just the last job you had. A shortsighted position and not good advice for most people.
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Once I leave I never plan to go back to that company. I do just leave on a whim. There are reasons why I don't want to work there.
 
1_rick said:
Not in the US, after there were lawsuit threats. Most companies these days will do nothing more than confirm a person used to work there.
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Exactly, and other companies know this. That reply may as well be this employee was trash. If you gave two weeks notice and left on a good standing, there's at least a chance your ex boss may include a few positive words. Hell if the company says anything more at all says a lot.
 
Even if you hate the place and never plan on going back it's helpful to leave a good impression. It's a small world and chances are you'll cross paths with someone there in a future opportunity, or at least someone they know.

"Having an in" is the easiest way to get a job. Interviewing and the whole hiring process is a crapshoot. It's really hard to tell if someone is good or bad from an application and even an in-person interview. When people someone on the hiring side knows a candidate is good from past experience it pretty much guarantees they get the job over the other candidates where they would be taking a risk with all the uncertainty. And the opposite is also true.
 
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