EA And Activision CEOs Make The List For The 100 Most Overpaid CEOs In America

By Austin Wilson | @TheAustinPost1

Activision CEO Bobby Kotick and Electronic Arts CEO Andrew Wilson were placed on a list for the 100 Most Overpaid CEOs in the United States.

The nonprofit As You Sow has spent the past five years researching and reporting the most overpaid CEOs in the United States. Over the course of their five year observation, they found that CEO earnings have increased. "According the the Institutional Shareholder Service (ISS) the average pay for a CEO in the S&P 500 grew from $11.5 million in 2013 to $13.6 million in 2017."

The CEOs on the list make more than 300 times more than their ground-level employees. "The median pay ratio for the S&P 500 is 142:1, while the median pay ratio for companies on As You Sow's list of the 100 most overpaid CEOs is over twice as much, namely 300:1."

Activision CEO Robert Kotick is placed at 45, earning $28,698,375 with an excess of $12,698,375. Electronic Arts CEO Andrew Wilson is placed at 98, earning $35,728,764 with an excess of $19,673,861.


Activision CEO Robert Kotick

The report was published shortly after both companies announced massive layoffs. Activision-Blizzard laid off 800 employees during a company-wide restructure and has hinted that more layoffs can be expected in the future, despite Kotick bragging about record earnings for 2018.

"While our financial results for 2018 were the best in our history, we didn't realize our full potential," Kotick said, "To help us reach our full potential, we have made a number of important leadership changes. These changes should enable us to achieve the many opportunities our industry affords us, especially with our powerful owned franchises, our strong commercial capabilities, our direct digital connections to hundreds of millions of players, and our extraordinarily talented employees."

The mass layoffs were heavily criticized and Game Workers United called for Kotick's removal as CEO. The call was followed by some in the gaming community pushing the hashtag #FireBobbyKotick on Twitter.


Electronic Arts CEO Andrew Wilson

Electronic Arts terminated 50 employees from its Australia-based FireMonkeys studios, a quarter of the studios staff in an effort to change the developers focus from mobile games to live services. The layoffs hit the Australian game development industry hard. The loss made up around 5% of the entire developer industry in the country. 

"This is a devastating blow to the industry," Game Workers United Australia stated, "an extraordinarily disappointing decision which will affect the already crowded local freelancer and indie market, as well as the undergraduate student body."

With so many layoffs in the gaming industry, As You Sow's report isn't doing Activision or EA any favors. Especially to a consumer base that has been openly critical of both publishers.