This article was updated on 7th May 2024 to remove a statement regarding Bobby Kotick. The original version of this article referred to a debunked Wall Street Journal report regarding untrue allegations against Bobby Kotick. The false allegations originate from a now-dismissed complaint filed by the California Civil Rights Department (‘CRD’) in 2021. The CRD, the Journal, and multiple independent investigations have found that claims of systemic sexual harassment at Activision were unsubstantiated, and Mr. Kotick never turned a blind eye toward, ignored, condoned, or tolerated harassment, retaliation, or discrimination or acted improperly with regard to the handling of any instances of workplace misconduct. Additionally, in May 2023, Activision publicly released its inaugural annual Transparency Report, which further confirmed that there has never been widespread or systemic harassment at Activision.
Former Activision CEO Bobby Kotick is reportedly interested in buying TikTok if ByteDance decides to sell the social media platform.
TikTok is currently under scrutiny in the U.S. as lawmakers are worried that the Beijing-based company, ByteDance, might share users’ data with China and potentially spread propaganda and/or shape the political opinion of America, both at home and abroad.
However, due to the app’s popularity with 102.3 million monthly users, lawmakers are hesitant to upset the masses by banning it.
Despite this, a new bill, known as the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, has recently passed a key stage in the House Energy and Commerce Committee 50-0, that now is heading towards a vote in the House.
If the bill passes both the House and Senate, then TikTok would have to sell part of itself in the U.S. or face a complete ban.
President Biden has expressed that he would sign the bill if it clears Congress, which could help its passage through the Senate.
A ByteDance spokeswoman said that separating the U.S. from TikTok would undermine the app’s appeal as a global platform.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Kotick has been discussing the possibility with ByteDance co-founder Zhang Yiming. Should Kotick be successful, the acquisition is estimated to be hundreds of billions of dollars.
Kotick is exploring partner opportunities, including discussions with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. The Wall Street Journal said: “OpenAI could use TikTok to help train its AI models if a partner such as Kotick could raise the capital for such an acquisition.”
Kotick’s interest in TikTok comes after his departure from Activision Blizzard late last year after 32 years, after it was acquired by Microsoft for $69 billion.
Words by Libby Jennings
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