Disgraced ex-Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick wants to buy TikTok: report

Bobby Kotick, the embattled former CEO of Activision Blizzard, is reportedly interested in buying TikTok.

Per The Wall Street Journal, U.S. buyers are circling the platform amid increased U.S. scrutiny surrounding its creator, the Chinese tech giant ByteDance, over its links to the Chinese government. In particular, ByteDance may have to sell off TikTok or risk being banned in the U.S. entirely.

That’s where Kotick would come in. According to The WSJ, the former gaming executive is one of several people considering buying TikTok. The outlet says he’s been pitching other business moguls, including OpenAI’s Sam Altman, to form a group to purchase the video platform.

It’s unclear who else might be interested, but considering the price to buy TikTok is expected to be in the range of “hundreds of billions of dollars,” per The WSJ, Kotick would certainly need a variety of well-funded partners.

The news comes shortly after Kotick stepped down from his role as Activision Blizzard CEO in December amid Microsoft’s completed acquisition of the company. He had been CEO of Activision Blizzard (and, previously, Activision) since 1991, and during that time was one of the most overpaid CEOs in the U.S.

Unfortunately, the Microsoft deal also gave Kotick a wholly undeserved graceful and lucrative exit from the company. In 2021, Activision Blizzard was sued by the California government for fostering a toxic “frat boy” work culture in which women faced sexual harassment, groping, unequal pay and other forms of discrimination. Outlets like The Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg later corroborated the reports of the lawsuit. The abuse was reportedly so rampant that it led one female employee to commit suicide.

All the while, it was alleged that Kotick not only knew of these transgressions but actively worked to cover them up, including by threatening to have an assistant killed. Former Meta executive Sheryl Sandberg, who once dated Kotick, was also accused of using her own power to help him further conceal the truth.

Kotick, for his part, has maintained his innocence outside of offering empty platitudes as CEO to improve diversity within the company. Last year, he also claimed that the allegations were “mischaracterizations” by the media and even tried to paint himself as a victim by brushing aside criticism as “antisemitism.”

Ultimately, it remains to be seen whether Kotick will be part of a group that buys TikTok, but hopefully, his slimy hands are kept off the platform.

Image credit: Activision Blizzard

Source: The Wall Street Journal