Activision Blizzard plans to raise more than $4 million for charities that support black Americans as well as fight systemic race inequality in the U.S., the company announced today. CEO Bobby Kotick said he’s personally donating $1 million to support a variety of charities.
Activision said it has a “goal of raising over $4 million” for organizations like the United Negro College Fund, Equal Justice Initiative, and Management Leadership for Tomorrow.
Outside of the $1 million donation from Kotick, he made a $1 million personal pledge along with a $1 million pledge from Activision Blizzard to match donations made by employees. The post came short of pledging $4 million to the charities outright and there’s no indication of where else they might attempt to raise funds to meet their goal.
“Grounded in our values of excellence and inclusion, we are proud to support the efforts focused on educational access and opportunity,” Activision said. “We are honored to join them in providing transformative opportunities to Black Americans and fighting against systemic inequality.”
This move by Activision, and more specifically Kotick, comes on the day of the company’s annual meeting where a number of proposals are being voted on, including a contentious compensation plan for board members.
Last week, an investment group made a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission advising shareholders to vote against the board’s compensation proposal that would increase Kotick’s pay. In the filing, Kotick’s pay was scrutinized for being higher than others in a similar position to him across gaming.
While the pledge of money for a charitable cause could have ties to criticism about his pay, Activision hasn’t been mum about the social unrest over the past few weeks following the murder of George Floyd by police officers.
At the end of May, the company made a post on Twitter in support of the fight for equality, ending its statement with the sentence “Black lives matter.”
