Posted in: Games, Video Games | Tagged: activision, activision blizzard, Dennis Durkin, Spencer Neumann

Activision Blizzard Awards New CFO with 15 Million Simply for Taking the Job

Activision Blizzard kicked off 2019 in a stranger way than we've ever seen. First they announced the termination of CFO Spencer Neumann's contract with the company, then they cut ties with developer Bungie, even giving away the rights to the Destiny IP. Throughout all of this, Activision Blizzard's stock has been sitting at its lowest point since 2017.

Appointed to replace Neumann was former Chief Corporate Officer Dennis Durkin who had previously held the CFO office in 2017.

According to Bloomberg, Durkin's new title comes with some astonishing bonuses:

Activision Blizzard Inc.'s Dennis Durkin will receive awards worth $15 million as part of his appointment to chief financial officer.

Durkin will get $11.3 million of restricted stock tied to operating income and earnings-per-share targets, and a $3.75 million sign-on bonus, the Santa Monica, California-based company said Friday in a regulatory filing. That's on top of his $900,000 salary and a $1.35 million target bonus.

While signing bonuses aren't exactly unheard of, the timing of this isn't great. After all, this news comes right on the heels of this weekend's announcement that Activision Blizzard is being investigated for fraud. The Pomerantz LLP, who pioneered the field of securities class action lawsuits, is looking into Activision Blizzard's financials over the company's decision to drop Bungie, which resulted in massive financial losses for investors. Activision Blizzard's stock fell sharply after the Destiny news got out, as it is one of Activision Blizzard's best known franchises in the current market.

Sure, the publisher also takes in revenue from the Candy Crush games through subsidiary King, as well as all the Blizzard properties, however, the loss of Destiny was a blow to investors despite Activision Blizzard saying the game is "underperforming".

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