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Bobby Kotick Gets a lot of stock bonus - Page 6

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NIIINO
Profile Blog Joined July 2010
Slovakia1320 Posts
April 28 2013 08:57 GMT
#101
1st Im happy for anyone in gaming industry making big money, well im happy for anyone who is happy : )
2nd this make me jelly that he makes this much and I make only 2,5euro per hour for selling his games in the shop
Cloak
Profile Joined October 2009
United States816 Posts
April 28 2013 09:04 GMT
#102
On April 28 2013 14:42 Mothra wrote:
What does he even do? Like if his job were to suddenly not exist, does the end product not get made and sold?


He takes things that are already making money, pressures them to make more money, and he gets a cut. Management in a nutshell. As Gabe Newell put it, management is not the ultimate career goal, nor should the compensation reflect that. It's just another subset of the corporation. But since they're the "deciders," they get to decide for themselves how much they're worth. And surprise, surprise, they're worth several orders of magnitude more than everybody else.
The more you know, the less you understand.
yandere991
Profile Blog Joined September 2010
Australia394 Posts
Last Edited: 2013-04-28 09:09:49
April 28 2013 09:08 GMT
#103
On April 28 2013 17:48 Doublemint wrote:
Show nested quote +
On April 28 2013 17:34 yandere991 wrote:
On April 28 2013 17:33 Doublemint wrote:
On April 28 2013 16:51 Joedaddy wrote:
Rarely does anyone actually deserve to be making this kind of money, not to mention the fact that no one could spend this much money in one lifetime.


This self righteous indignation is disgusting. The fact that people actually believe this kind of thing is mind boggling. People deserve to make as much money as somebody else is willing to pay them. Period. I'd wager there isn't a nerd on the internet who would decline Kotick's paycheck for services rendered.


That is the logical approach in a capitalist society, which is fine but definitely not the only approach or even the "correct approach" for many I guess.

I am not fully sold on that, there is a valid discussion to be had about how much is too much considering his position and the actual "output he as a person has" without drifting into some sort of class warfare.

He should be paid a shitton of money as CEO whose company does really really well - more than he could spend without having absurd spending habits, but a 800% raise is just absurd in times of crisis.

Even this GMI ratings lady said that this sort of compensation is rather unprecedented in the video gaming industry.


It wasn't a 800% increase. Not even close.


The Kotaku article is lying then? If so please elaborate.

//edit: ah k so you are getting at the fact that it's mainly in stock awards.

Still, I don't see how that should not be able to still spark a discussion.


Whilst being a stock award does give it an amount of volatility to it what I meant was that it was vested over 5 years. So basically he is getting a fifth of it (or depending on how they want to tranche it) as income every year. What Kotaku is doing is taking his 5 year income as a sum and dividing it by his current annual salary. If his annual salary got a 800% increase that would be insane and the shareholders would go apeshit.

Generally big companies have a performance test every year for each tranche which might lapse if the company does shit (for LTI plans only). Wonder if he can perform satisfactorily for 5 years.
RaiZ
Profile Blog Joined April 2003
2813 Posts
April 28 2013 09:09 GMT
#104
On April 28 2013 14:32 Tatari wrote:
Gamer logic: We hate Kotick? Better bend over and let him take our wallets and life savings to make him look good.

I don't get some people sometimes...

Let's all stop sc2 then ?
Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth. Oscar Wilde
vidium
Profile Joined January 2012
Romania222 Posts
April 28 2013 09:09 GMT
#105
Well now he has money to grow a third chin.
You ever notice how no one returns to the barracks?
dartoo
Profile Joined May 2010
India2889 Posts
April 28 2013 09:10 GMT
#106
Well big ceo's make money......why are people so mad about this, I dont understand.

A lot of people buy CoD etc etc, they have fun with the games, bobby makes money.
SoniC_eu
Profile Joined April 2011
Denmark1008 Posts
Last Edited: 2013-04-28 09:14:38
April 28 2013 09:12 GMT
#107
Friggin ridiculous....There is no justification for this kind of salary, and this custom of overpaying CEOs, I have never understood. As the rest of the world is going through austerity measures, strikes, cutbacks etc. these guys seem to make even more each year. The shops retailing the games, the middlemen etc. deserve more of the cake instead of this overpriced derphead IMO.
In order to succeed, your desire for success should be greater than your fear of failure. http://da.twitch.tv/sonic_eu
Surili
Profile Blog Joined March 2011
United Kingdom1141 Posts
April 28 2013 09:14 GMT
#108
This stuff is so bad for the economy. Rule number one, never give someone more money than they can usefully spend.
The world is ending what should we do about it?
RvB
Profile Blog Joined December 2010
Netherlands6261 Posts
April 28 2013 09:15 GMT
#109
On April 28 2013 18:04 Cloak wrote:
Show nested quote +
On April 28 2013 14:42 Mothra wrote:
What does he even do? Like if his job were to suddenly not exist, does the end product not get made and sold?


He takes things that are already making money, pressures them to make more money, and he gets a cut. Management in a nutshell. As Gabe Newell put it, management is not the ultimate career goal, nor should the compensation reflect that. It's just another subset of the corporation. But since they're the "deciders," they get to decide for themselves how much they're worth. And surprise, surprise, they're worth several orders of magnitude more than everybody else.

The CEO doesn't decide his own salary at least not in Europe.
Grumbels
Profile Blog Joined May 2009
Netherlands7031 Posts
April 28 2013 09:18 GMT
#110
I don't like this. If I spend money on Blizzard games I want it to be used for compensating the developers or for reinvestment into WCS and such. Not to give Bobby Kotick (who does not care about games) a raise. Isn't average worker pay to CEO pay for big companies like 1:500 these days?
Well, now I tell you, I never seen good come o' goodness yet. Him as strikes first is my fancy; dead men don't bite; them's my views--amen, so be it.
McBengt
Profile Joined May 2011
Sweden1684 Posts
April 28 2013 09:19 GMT
#111
On April 28 2013 18:10 dartoo wrote:
Well big ceo's make money......why are people so mad about this, I dont understand.

A lot of people buy CoD etc etc, they have fun with the games, bobby makes money.


Because of who it is. Bobby Kotick is the biggest asshole to ever plague the gaming industry. He epitomizes everything that is bad about free market capitalism, an opportunistic little toad without even a hint of passion or even interest in gaming.
"My twelve year old will out-reason Bill Maher when it comes to understanding, you know, what, uh, how to logic work" - Rick Santorum
Doublemint
Profile Joined July 2011
Austria8655 Posts
Last Edited: 2013-04-28 09:22:57
April 28 2013 09:21 GMT
#112
On April 28 2013 18:08 yandere991 wrote:
Show nested quote +
On April 28 2013 17:48 Doublemint wrote:
On April 28 2013 17:34 yandere991 wrote:
On April 28 2013 17:33 Doublemint wrote:
On April 28 2013 16:51 Joedaddy wrote:
Rarely does anyone actually deserve to be making this kind of money, not to mention the fact that no one could spend this much money in one lifetime.


This self righteous indignation is disgusting. The fact that people actually believe this kind of thing is mind boggling. People deserve to make as much money as somebody else is willing to pay them. Period. I'd wager there isn't a nerd on the internet who would decline Kotick's paycheck for services rendered.


That is the logical approach in a capitalist society, which is fine but definitely not the only approach or even the "correct approach" for many I guess.

I am not fully sold on that, there is a valid discussion to be had about how much is too much considering his position and the actual "output he as a person has" without drifting into some sort of class warfare.

He should be paid a shitton of money as CEO whose company does really really well - more than he could spend without having absurd spending habits, but a 800% raise is just absurd in times of crisis.

Even this GMI ratings lady said that this sort of compensation is rather unprecedented in the video gaming industry.


It wasn't a 800% increase. Not even close.


The Kotaku article is lying then? If so please elaborate.

//edit: ah k so you are getting at the fact that it's mainly in stock awards.

Still, I don't see how that should not be able to still spark a discussion.


Whilst being a stock award does give it an amount of volatility to it what I meant was that it was vested over 5 years. So basically he is getting a fifth of it (or depending on how they want to tranche it) as income every year. Basically what Kotaku is doing is taking his 5 year income as a sum and dividing it by his current annual salary. If his annual salary got a 800% increase that would be insane and the shareholders would go apeshit.

Generally big companies have a performance test every year for each tranche which might lapse if the company does shit (for LTI plans only). Wonder if he can perform satisfactorily for 5 years.


Yeah saw that as well after reading it for the second time. Still I am with this GMI Lady in that his performance/compensation ratio is rather off the charts and intransparent - apart from the fact that the company as a whole having a blast - while him being in charge that is. In addition it sets (another?) bad precedent of fat cats doing well while ordinary folks are hurting.

Having his stock award doing well mainly depends on whether they will continue their CoD release spree every year and Blizzard going successfully Titan instead of WoW.

I think chances are high he will be a happy Bobby.
Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before the fall.
Lorizean
Profile Blog Joined March 2011
Germany1330 Posts
April 28 2013 09:21 GMT
#113
If I understood that correctly, he got $8m as a Salary and the rest was because he bought Stock in Activision?
Activision Blizzard made $4.856bn in revenues in 2012 - which makes his salary 0.2% of that revenue.
That is still a lot, but nowhere near a significant amount of Activions revenues.

The fact that his Stocks are worth a lot more because Activion is worth a lot more shouldn't raise concern.

His job is Management, so he should be paid according to monetary performance goals, not video game quality - and Activision is performing very well.

If you don't like it, buy less CoDs.
jalstar
Profile Blog Joined September 2009
United States8198 Posts
April 28 2013 09:22 GMT
#114
On April 28 2013 18:15 RvB wrote:
Show nested quote +
On April 28 2013 18:04 Cloak wrote:
On April 28 2013 14:42 Mothra wrote:
What does he even do? Like if his job were to suddenly not exist, does the end product not get made and sold?


He takes things that are already making money, pressures them to make more money, and he gets a cut. Management in a nutshell. As Gabe Newell put it, management is not the ultimate career goal, nor should the compensation reflect that. It's just another subset of the corporation. But since they're the "deciders," they get to decide for themselves how much they're worth. And surprise, surprise, they're worth several orders of magnitude more than everybody else.

The CEO doesn't decide his own salary at least not in Europe.


IIRC CEO salary in America is 100's of times higher than in Europe.
Teddyman
Profile Joined October 2008
Finland362 Posts
April 28 2013 09:25 GMT
#115
If the company gives out new shares the value doesn't come from sales or savings, it comes from other shareholders. This deal would practically be each shareholder agreeing to give 0,06% of their share to Kotick every year for 5 years.
"Chess is a dead game" -Bobby Fischer 2004
Roxor9999
Profile Joined December 2011
Netherlands771 Posts
April 28 2013 09:39 GMT
#116
On April 28 2013 18:25 Teddyman wrote:
If the company gives out new shares the value doesn't come from sales or savings, it comes from other shareholders. This deal would practically be each shareholder agreeing to give 0,06% of their share to Kotick every year for 5 years.

There is no person in the world that would give up their shares to some CEO. Most likely he is getting shares that were owned by activision.
Teddyman
Profile Joined October 2008
Finland362 Posts
April 28 2013 09:44 GMT
#117
On April 28 2013 18:39 Roxor9999 wrote:
Show nested quote +
On April 28 2013 18:25 Teddyman wrote:
If the company gives out new shares the value doesn't come from sales or savings, it comes from other shareholders. This deal would practically be each shareholder agreeing to give 0,06% of their share to Kotick every year for 5 years.

There is no person in the world that would give up their shares to some CEO. Most likely he is getting shares that were owned by activision.

Nobody is giving their shares, the company would give him new shares. All other shares would lose 0,3% of their value over 5 years from dilution.
"Chess is a dead game" -Bobby Fischer 2004
stroggozz
Profile Joined March 2013
New Zealand19 Posts
Last Edited: 2013-04-28 10:06:22
April 28 2013 09:56 GMT
#118
This is pretty bad. He gets bonuses for hitting performance targets, which are profitable for the short term of a company, but very hurtful for the long term of a company. making the same sequels over and over is just hurtful to the creative industry, and it will destroy them in the long term. Furthermore, even if he was making it profitable over long term, that doesn't necessarily represent what true wealth is. True wealth will come from creativity in the game industry.

The way i see it he is getting paid a lot of money to destroy the company over a long term period, much like how the media ignores global warming so companies can make money in the short term(and destroy the world in the long term). This is one of the functions of todays society. Some people call it capitalism but thats too broad a term for me to use. The people that actually make the games should choose what the company does, or at least vote for their company leader. They know best.

I really think the 'dont buy their games then' argument is very weak as well.
i drink ur milkshake
Rarak
Profile Joined May 2010
Australia631 Posts
April 28 2013 10:05 GMT
#119
On April 28 2013 15:42 xM(Z wrote:
Show nested quote +
On April 28 2013 15:20 JonnyBNoHo wrote:
On April 28 2013 15:17 xM(Z wrote:
so where is the intellectual property of the developers? because it looks to be pirated by CEOs.

They sold it for money :p

or, why wouldn't the same logic apply to media artists. after they get hired by a records/movie company, fuck them. 9 to 5 work hours and minimum wage. :p


If they choose to do that sure, but artists that have any marketable talent they will get what they are worth due to the revenue and profit they can bring in.

If you work for others you lose the right to IP. Think you can do it alone? Great do so.
Patate
Profile Joined January 2011
Canada441 Posts
April 28 2013 10:22 GMT
#120
On April 28 2013 14:48 Klipsys wrote:
Show nested quote +
On April 28 2013 14:45 sluggaslamoo wrote:
On April 28 2013 14:37 wUndertUnge wrote:
On April 28 2013 14:36 sluggaslamoo wrote:
Meanwhile Activision developers are struggling to make a living...


See that's what I'm trying to figure out. What are their salaries? Does this man really deserve all fo that compensation? Shouldn't it go to the people actually doing the work?


Being a game developer for the giants (except probably Blizzard/Valve) leads to a pretty terrible lifestyle. You basically get paid almost a minimum wage even though you are much more qualified and more deserving than the rest of the population.

Most developers such as myself, started out wanting to become game developers and then came to the shocking realisation that its not what its cracked up to be and shifted to much more lucrative careers in the software development industry like web-development, where you can work normal hours and get paid 4 times as much.



More deserving....? MORE DESERVING? You think that developers are more deserving that say, oh; teachers, nurses, police/EMS/Firefighters, social workers, single moms, peacecorps, habitat for humanity, big brothers/bigsisters etc...


How in the...? They make computer games


Based on the complexity of their job ( and the limited amount of individuals who could do such a job), yes they are more deserving than most people you mentioned.. especially big brothers/sisters and single moms. Speaking of which, why did you bother mentioning those? Wow..
Dead game.
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