{"id":794326,"date":"2026-10-07T01:50:08","date_gmt":"2026-10-07T01:50:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/794326\/"},"modified":"2026-10-07T01:50:08","modified_gmt":"2026-10-07T01:50:08","slug":"ex-activision-ceo-bobby-kotick-joins-skydance-board-of-directors-following-wb-paramount-merger","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/794326\/","title":{"rendered":"Ex-Activision CEO Bobby Kotick Joins Skydance Board of Directors Following WB-Paramount Merger"},"content":{"rendered":"<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">Former Activision CEO Bobby Kotick, who <a class=\"link jsx-1337145738 jsx-3925284146 underlined\" data-cy=\"styled-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ign.com\/articles\/bobby-kotick-leaving-activision-blizzard-on-december-29\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">stepped down<\/a> from running the Call of Duty publisher after Microsoft completed its <a class=\"link jsx-1337145738 jsx-3925284146 underlined\" data-cy=\"styled-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ign.com\/articles\/microsoft-just-bought-activision-blizzard-for-69-billion-so-whats-next\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">$69 billion acquisition<\/a> of Activision-Blizzard-King, is joining David Ellison&#8217;s board of directors at the newly christened Skydance following Paramount&#8217;s <a class=\"link jsx-1337145738 jsx-3925284146 underlined\" data-cy=\"styled-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ign.com\/articles\/batman-lord-of-the-rings-and-harry-potter-feature-in-first-trailer-for-skydance-the-newly-named-parent-company-for-a-merged-warner-bros-and-paramount\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">now-completed acquisition<\/a> of Warner Bros. Discovery.<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">The Hollywood Reporter <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/business\/business-news\/bobby-kotick-laurene-powell-jobs-join-skydance-board-1236723916\/\" class=\"link jsx-1337145738 jsx-3925284146 underlined\" data-cy=\"styled-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">confirmed<\/a> Kotick&#8217;s spot on the new board, which was disclosed in a new SEC filing, along with philanthropist Laurene Powell Jobs. Former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair also joins as a board advisor. \u201cI am delighted to welcome Laurene and Bobby to our Board and honored to have Tony join us as an Advisor,\u201d Ellison said. \u201cBobby led a global entertainment company through three decades of sustained growth, and he brings real perspective on building enduring franchises and connecting with fans. His record of pairing bold strategic moves with disciplined capital allocation is exactly the experience we need as we bring our businesses together. Tony has led at the highest levels of government, respected for his intellect, strategic vision and ability to bring people together around bold, forward-looking ideas. His global perspective and insight will be invaluable as we turn ambition into results.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">The 13-member board includes a number of other entertainment-industry figures, such as Barbara Byrne, Andy Campion, Gerry Cardinale, Safra A. Catz, Andy Gordon, Justin G. Hamill, Ynon Kreiz, Sherry Lansing, Paul Marinelli, and John L. Thornton. <\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">While Activision grew to become one of the game industry&#8217;s largest publishers during Kotick&#8217;s 32-year tenure, it wasn&#8217;t without <a class=\"link jsx-1337145738 jsx-3925284146 underlined\" data-cy=\"styled-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ign.com\/articles\/activision-blizzard-sued-by-california\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">controversy<\/a>. He <a class=\"link jsx-1337145738 jsx-3925284146 underlined\" data-cy=\"styled-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ign.com\/articles\/bobby-kotick-claims-activision-call-of-duty-and-consoles-are-doing-so-poorly-it-proves-he-was-right-to-sell-activision-blizzard-to-microsoft-for-69-billion\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">believes he was right<\/a> to sell the company to Microsoft in the end.<\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"Ryan McCaffrey Avatar\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"progressive-image profile-thumb-img jsx-249361588 jsx-2338608387 expand\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1791337808_386_4917321-1585328667.jpg\"  data-cy=\"progressive-image\"\/><\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">Ryan McCaffrey is IGN&#8217;s executive editor of previews and host of IGN&#8217;s weekly Xbox show, <a class=\"link jsx-1337145738 jsx-3925284146 underlined\" data-cy=\"styled-link\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ign.com\/watch\/unlocked\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Podcast Unlocked<\/a>, and a co-host of <a class=\"link jsx-1337145738 jsx-3925284146 underlined\" data-cy=\"styled-link\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ign.com\/watch\/next-gen-console-watch\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Next-Gen Console Watch<\/a>. He&#8217;s a North Jersey guy, so it&#8217;s &#8220;Taylor ham,&#8221; not &#8220;pork roll.&#8221; Debate it with him on Twitter at <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/DMC_Ryan\" class=\"link jsx-1337145738 jsx-3925284146 underlined\" data-cy=\"styled-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer noopener noreferrer nofollow\">@DMC_Ryan<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Former Activision CEO Bobby Kotick, who stepped down from running the Call of Duty publisher after Microsoft completed&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":794327,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[84,59,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-794326","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-business","tag-gb","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/794326","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=794326"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/794326\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/794327"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=794326"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=794326"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=794326"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}