Bobby Kotick’s post-Activision career could involve Premier League football

Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick has been linked with Premier League football club West Ham United.

The Call of Duty publisher’s long-standing boss recently agreed to remain as CEO until the end of 2023, following Microsoft’s $69bn acquisition of the company.

As a major shareholder, Kotick is in line to make hundreds of millions of dollars from the deal. He’s also entitled to a severance payment if his contract is terminated or he leaves under various circumstances within a year of a change of control at the company.

And according to West Ham podcaster and news reporter Sean Whetstone, Kotick could be interested in investing a small stake in West Ham United as part of his post-gaming career.

“Bobby Kotick is a name supplied to me by a trusted source as someone potentially interested in investing in West Ham,” Whetstone told VGC.

According to the source, Kotick has been offered as an investor for the 10% shareholding recently put up for sale with Rothschild, following the death of co-chairman David Gold.

The Hammers already have one American shareholder in the form of Tripp Smith, who owns 8% of the West Ham holding company.

Premier League clubs have become popular with American investors, with Arsenal, Chelsea, Spurs, Manchester United, Aston Villa, Bournemouth, Liverpool, Burnley, Crystal Palace and Fulham all owned or partially owned by Americans.

Bobby Kotick was CEO of Activision from 1991 until 2008, after which he became CEO of Activision Blizzard in connection with the merger of Activision and Vivendi Games.

He is the sole Activision Blizzard executive to hold change-of-control protection that would reward him financially if he’s replaced following a takeover.

While he has helped steer Activision Blizzard to great commercial heights during his tenure, Kotick’s reputation—and that of the company—has suffered greatly in recent years following several scandals.

That includes allegations that executives intentionally ignored or attempted to downplay reported instances of sexual harassment and gender discrimination. Both Kotick and Activision have denied the allegations.