On Friday, The Coca-Cola Company announced that Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick (pictured above) would not stand for re-election to the company’s board of directors. The decision came after NLPC’s three-month campaign to have Kotick removed. NLPC first demanded that Coca-Cola Chairman and CEO James Quincey seek Kotick’s removal in November.
Kotick is the CEO of Activision Blizzard, Inc., who was embroiled in a sexual misconduct scandal when it was announced his company would be acquired by Microsoft in January 2022.
NLPC was first among shareholders to ask Quincey to seek Kotick’s removal in a letter on November 30, 2021. As CEO of Activision, he was embroiled in multiple sexual harassment scandals.
In December 2021, NLPC’s request received a major boost when it was echoed by SOC Investment Group, which advises union pension funds. SOC threatened to vote against Coca-Cola directors facing re-election if they don’t get rid of Kotick.
“It was long overdue for Bobby Kotick to be removed from Coca-Cola’s board,” said Paul Chesser, director of NLPC’s Corporate Integrity Project. “Coca-Cola CEO James Quincey has inserted himself in controversial political issues, but could not do the right thing when it came to his own board.”
NLPC is sponsoring a shareholder proposal to make the board chairman a separate role from the CEO. Both posts are now held by Quincey.
