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Bobby Kotick
Chief Executive Officer, Activision Blizzard Inc- Bobby Kotick had an entrepreneurial bent of mind since an early age
- In 1983, he founded a software company after securing some capital from the casino mogul Steve Wynn. The company shut a few years later
- Kotick found International Consumer Technologies in 1986 and served as its president till 1995
- In 1990, he came across a financially troubled video game company called Activision and the following year he became its chairman and CEO
- He soon turned around the business and created an environment for developers to flourish
- In 1999, Activision released the game, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, which eventually became their first hit franchise
- Over the next few years, the company added games like Call of Duty and Guitar Hero to their offerings
- After the merger of Activision with Blizzard in 2008, Kotick was named as the president and CEO of the new company. Following the merger, his company added the famous multiplayer online game World of Warcraft to its kitty
- Kotick stepped down from the role of president in 2017 but continues to be the CEO of the company
- According to the company’s website, today, Activision Blizzard is the most successful standalone interactive entertainment company in the world. With games like Call of Duty, Candy Crush, World of Warcraft among others, it also has the largest game network in the world
- In 2009, Kotick created the non-profit Call of Duty Endowment to help veterans get back into the workforce
- He has also served as a member on the board of directors of The Coca-Cola Company since 2012
Before you go ...
- Originally named Robert Kotick, most of his friends called him Bobby and eventually, as he started growing in his professional life, he became known by that name
- Apart from enjoying the arcade game Defender as a teenager, Kotick was never either passionate about video games nor liked to play them
- Kotick had a cameo in the 2011 Hollywood movie Moneyball, which, among others, starred Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill