Grass is inexperienced, the sky is blue, and Bobby Kotick is even now prosperous. Previously this yr, Activision halved the CEO’s shell out and once-a-year reward concentrate on immediately after he used years pulling in tens of millions of bucks (even soon after laying off staff), resulting in sustained tension from traders. A group representing people traders, having said that, does not assume Activision went considerably enough.

CtW Investment decision Team, the identical a single that formerly criticized Kotick’s exorbitant selling price tag, has published a new letter in which it argues that the recent renegotiation of Kotick’s terms focuses on a period so short as to render the full factor “moot.” These new conditions, CtW govt director Dieter Waizenegger points out, expire on March 31, 2023, meaning that 2022 is the only full year they even utilize to.

“In other phrases, the extension is not long ample to signify an earnest hard work by the Compensation Committee to lessen the CEO’s outsized fairness spend about a sustained period,” Waizenegger wrote. “The Compensation Committee is silent about its extensive-time period incentive solution following March 2023.”

He went on to stage out that even Kotick’s yr of slumming it with all the marginally less preposterously rich CEOs won’t truly make a difference in the grand plan of factors.

“Mr. Kotick has presently obtained a windfall adequately huge more than enough to include reductions in pay by way of early 2023 because of the Shareholder Value Generation Incentive,” Waizenegger wrote, referencing a provision in Kotick’s agreement that makes it possible for him to obtain an monumental incentive reward if Activision inventory stays above a certain level for 90 days. “Mr. Kotick’s 2020 fairness grant had a target benefit of $28 million, which proxy advisor Institutional Shareholder Companies notes is increased than the median overall fork out of CEOs in the company’s peer group ($23.4 million)…Similarly, Mr. Kotick also received his award intended for 2021 in 2020, with a grant day benefit of more than $25 million and a utmost payout value of around $32 million.”

Shareholders, Waizenegger concluded, want to see a reduction that lasts a lot more than just one particular 12 months and that basically addresses the underlying problem somewhat than just papering above it. Will that basically occur? Only time will notify, but Activision absolutely sure looks intent on steering clear of it if achievable. But even if Kotick finally finishes up a pauper who only pulls in a several million dollars each and every year, I have a sneaking suspicion he’ll however be loaded.