Activision Blizzard Pressured by State Treasurers Over Misconduct Allegations

Pressure against Activision Blizzard is growing as six U.S. state treasurers have voiced their concerns over the company’s handling of recent misconduct allegations.

As Axios reports, the state treasurers for California, Delaware, Illinois, Massachusetts, Oregon, and Nevada have added their voices to the growing list of people and organizations that have criticized the company over its handling of misconduct allegations in recent years. The company is currently engaged in a lawsuit over allegations of toxic workplace culture and gender discrimination, among other issues.

How the State Treasurers Speaking Out Affects Activision Blizzard

The state treasurers of California, Delaware, Illinois, Massachusetts, Oregon, and Nevada are all responsible for the financial assets of their respective states. Collectively, these six treasurers are managing over $1 trillion in assets. These assets include state pension funds which state employees depend on for income after they retire from the public sector.

It is unclear what portion of these respective funds includes Activision Blizzard stock. Regardless, the poor performance of the company’s stock — which has declined in value by more than 25% over the last year — affects the state’s funds, and that motivates these states to take action.

The six treasurers have asked for a meeting with the Activision Blizzard Board of Directors in order to “discuss your response to the challenges and investment risk exposures that face Activision.” The treasurers added that they would be weighing whether or not they would vote against the re-election of the current Board of Directors next year. Furthermore, this group echoed the call of other activist shareholders for current CEO Bobby Kotick to resign. The treasurers are demanding a meeting with the Board of Directors no later than December 20, 2021.

The criticism of Activision Blizzard by large companies has been growing in recent weeks; last month, the heads of Xbox and PlayStation raised their concerns to their own respective employees in internal emails.

Activision Blizzard Pressured by State Treasurers Over Misconduct Allegations
Source: Pinay Guide Blog