Activision CEO Bobby Kotick Steps Down From Coca-Cola Board

Mr. Kotick, who has been a director since 2012, said he was stepping down to provide full attention to the company’s pending tie-up with

Microsoft Corp.

He provided notice Tuesday about his plans to leave the panel, Coca-Cola said in a securities filing. He will remain a director for Coca-Cola until the company’s annual shareholder meeting later this year.

Mr. Kotick’s total compensation as a Coca-Cola director in 2020 was $340,003, according to the most recent public filings. He serves on its finance and management-development committees.

His pay package at Activision, where he has served as CEO for more than 30 years, in 2020 was valued at $154.6 million.

Coca-Cola had faced calls from some investors for Mr. Kotick to exit from the board. SOC Investment Group sent a letter to lead independent director,

Maria Elena Lagomasino,

in December for the company to not renominate him to the panel. The investment group had previously called for him to resign from his post as Activision CEO.

Shares of Coca-Cola were flat in Friday’s trading session. The company’s share price is up roughly 25% over the past 12 months.

Microsoft in January agreed to buy Activision in an all-cash deal valued at about $75 billion. Mr. Kotick is expected to exit from the company after the deal with Microsoft closes.

Activision’s deal comes on the heels of a report last year from The Wall Street Journal that Mr. Kotick knew for years about sexual-misconduct allegations at the videogame giant. The Journal also reported that pressure on the company following media reports and regulatory investigations into its handling of misconduct claims, as well as a languishing share price, provided the catalyst for Microsoft’s gaming head,

Phil Spencer,

to approach Mr. Kotick about a takeover.

Activision spokeswoman Helaine Klasky disputed the depiction of the company in the Journal’s reporting and said “the assertion regarding Mr. Kotick is untrue.”

Mr. Kotick has said he was transparent with his board, which issued a statement supporting him.

Ms. Klasky said in January that 37 people had “exited” and 44 had been disciplined as part of the company’s investigation of allegations of sexual harassment and other misconduct.

Write to Denny Jacob at [email protected]