Activision's Bobby Kotick Sees 800 Percent Pay Raise - Polidicks

[QUOTE=Novangel;40544033]Managing an entire company? I don't agree with his pay but a CEO isn't an easy position I would think.[/QUOTE] Oh, right, it's not like he has an entire board of directors and an entire company's worth of people to delegate the actual work to. I'll bet every dime I have to my name that his hands are as soft as a baby's ass and holding a pen is the hardest thing he does in a given day. One of the most fucked up things about this country is that we have an inverse relationship between hard work and pay, the people who make the most money do jack shit, and the people who bust their asses all day make $8 an hour, AKA what this asshole makes in a SECOND. He gets paid more to take a quick piss than I earn in an entire day.

[QUOTE=Used Car Salesman;40544006]In an hour he makes more than the majority of Americans make in an entire year. For doing what, exactly? Like, what physical work does he do that is so incredible and exclusive to him to make an hour of his time worth more than I made last year? Fuck this guy.[/QUOTE] Do you have to do physical work to warrant a high paycheck? People who have to coordinate and run a company actually have a pretty stressful and hard job. Physically demanding? No, but until you've run a company of 4,000 people, while dealing with all the shit that comes with that, you can't really say it's an easy job. The high paycheck is to keep him as a leader. I doubt he personally increased his paycheck either. There is such a thing as a board of directors that has to deal with stuff like that. He's doing the right thing for the company, thus they want to keep him. Whether it's the right thing for the consumer is a different matter that only you and I as consumers can deal with. I haven't bought an Activision game since World at War. A large amount of people enjoy the games that Activision puts out, so they continue to buy them. We are a minority next to these people. [editline]6th May 2013[/editline] [QUOTE=Used Car Salesman;40544101]Oh, right, it's not like he has an entire board of directors and an entire company's worth of people to delegate the actual work to. I'll bet every dime I have to my name that his hands are as soft as a baby's ass and holding a pen is the hardest thing he does in a given day. One of the most fucked up things about this country is that we have an inverse relationship between hard work and pay, the people who make the most money do jack shit, and the people who bust their asses all day make $8 an hour, AKA what this asshole makes in a SECOND. He gets paid more to take a quick piss than I earn in an entire day.[/QUOTE] They don't just pay him to show up for work. Believe it or not, he has expertise, and they find it valuable.

[QUOTE=Novangel;40544033]Managing an entire company? I don't agree with his pay but a CEO isn't an easy position I would think.[/QUOTE] Most people fight to make a living on 30k a year. This guy makes a living fighting for 30k an hour.

I wonder how much the guy who makes the AK47 models and animations for Call of Duty gets paid. [editline]6th May 2013[/editline] Obviously executives would make more money, maybe even vastly more money, but something tells me the average full-time employee at Activision, maybe one that has even worked for 5 or 10 years, makes far less than several million dollars a year.

What other people get paid is completely irrelevant. Those people have completely different jobs and expertise. One of the most important things someone can have is the ability to be a leader. The difference between a million dollar paycheck and a 10/hour job is your ability to lead other people and juggle many responsibilities while keeping business running smoothly. Experience, Leadership, and Communication skills are what will make you this valuable to a company. Obviously Kotick has it, even though I dislike the games that have been coming out under his supervision in the last 4 or 5 years.

ceo's dont raise their own paychecks afaik in fact ceo's dont really do anything except the biding of the share holders, so shooting off hatred for this guy is pretty pointless

[QUOTE=T2L_Goose;40544172]What other people get paid is completely irrelevant. Those people have completely different jobs and expertise. One of the most important things someone can have is the ability to be a leader. The difference between a million dollar paycheck and a 10/hour job is your ability to lead other people and juggle many responsibilities while keeping business running smoothly. Experience, Leadership, and Communication skills are what will make you this valuable to a company. Obviously Kotick has it, even though I dislike the games that have been coming out under his supervision in the last 4 or 5 years.[/QUOTE] Yes. I said all this in my post. I still think the gap is too large.

[QUOTE=T2L_Goose;40544111] They don't just pay him to show up for work. Believe it or not, he has expertise, and they find it valuable.[/QUOTE] I could do that guy's job for a month and literally nothing about the company would change. "Work on the new game going well? Okay, cool, carry on. Developers overworked and need to hire more people? CFO, see if we have enough money. Gamestop executive wants to set up a golf game? Talk to the secretary." At least CFOs and other executives have to directly manage a department and maintain an accurate, up-to-date understanding of what is going on, and actively work to solve problems they are responsible for. CEOs do jack shit except "make decisions", which literally anybody can do, especially when you have a whole team of people analyzing the decision and telling you which option is the best. It's the easiest fucking job on the entire planet.

[QUOTE=Used Car Salesman;40544217]I could do that guy's job for a month and literally nothing about the company would change. "Work on the new game going well? Okay, cool, carry on. Developers overworked and need to hire more people? CFO, see if we have enough money. Gamestop executive wants to set up a golf game? Talk to the secretary." At least CFOs and other executives have to directly manage a department and maintain an accurate, up-to-date understanding of what is going on, and actively work to solve problems they are responsible for. CEOs do jack shit except "make decisions", which literally anybody can do, especially when you have a whole team of people analyzing the decision and telling you which option is the best. It's the easiest fucking job on the entire planet.[/QUOTE] Okay so why do they keep him around then if literally anyone can do his job? Why does his job even exist? Why would they keep paying him so much money if he isn't valuable to the company? He's obviously valuable or they wouldn't pay him so much to stick around. [editline]6th May 2013[/editline] [QUOTE=Raidyr;40544215]Yes. I said all this in my post. I still think the gap is too large.[/QUOTE] Too large regarding what? Just because people have been working there for a long time? If someone is really good at making guns for a game, and they do it for many years with the company, that doesn't mean they should get a raise or anything. It's dependent on their performance and their personal abilities. He might be amazing at video game guns, but if that's it, why the hell should his paycheck be a million bucks if his work is only worth 200,000? If he doesn't like the paycheck he has, he can find another company that values his gun modeling skills more than Activision. That's not an uncommon thing for people to do.

[QUOTE=T2L_Goose;40544250]Okay so why do they keep him around then if literally anyone can do his job? Why does his job even exist? Why would they keep paying him so much money if he isn't valuable to the company? He's obviously valuable or they wouldn't pay him so much to stick around.[/QUOTE] Because he's good at taking credit for everyone busting their asses underneath him? "Value" is incredibly subjective. The moment, say, the power goes out, Bobby Kotick is literally the most worthless human being on the face of the planet, and a plumber becomes one of the most valuable. Whatever the fuck he actually does himself, undelegated, in a given day, there is no way in hell it's objectively worth $65 million. Not when he doesn't contribute any direct work to actually creating the (shitty) products that make the company money.

[QUOTE=mark6789;40543039]65 million dollars to the CEO and they wanna charge $15 for a map pack? Greedy as fuck. Also i bet they did save a ton of money using the same engine since Cod4.[/QUOTE] The CEO is making 65 million dollars [I]because[/I] they charge $15 for a map pack And not to be mean but Valve's been using Source since 2004 and nobody seems to mind that much (but my engine modifications!!!)

[QUOTE=latin_geek;40544295]The CEO is making 65 million dollars [I]because[/I] they charge $15 for a map pack And not to be mean but Valve's been using Source since 2004 and nobody seems to mind that much (but my engine modifications!!!)[/QUOTE] Most AAA franchises re-use engines because reworking the basic moving parts of a game is expensive and time consuming. CoD just catches the most flak because it's popular and the general lack of evolution is more noticeable when they release a game every year.

[QUOTE=Used Car Salesman;40544279]Because he's good at taking credit for everyone busting their asses underneath him? "Value" is incredibly subjective. The moment, say, the power goes out, Bobby Kotick is literally the most worthless human being on the face of the planet, and a plumber becomes one of the most valuable. Whatever the fuck he actually does himself, undelegated, in a given day, there is no way in hell it's objectively worth $65 million. Not when he doesn't contribute any direct work to actually creating the (shitty) products that make the company money.[/QUOTE] Well obviously he [I]is[/I] worth $65 million, or else they wouldn't be paying him that much. I'm not sure how "taking credit for everyone's work" is worth anything to a board of directors. They aren't paying him $65 million just to piss you off, it's actually a way to keep him from leaving the company and going somewhere else. I don't personally know the guy or his experience in his field. All I know is that a wage is an employers way to keep you happy so you don't leave and go someplace else with your skills that they find valuable.

Not surprising at all, it'll probably increase in the coming years as I don't see COD's sales dropping anytime soon.

[QUOTE=T2L_Goose;40544250] Too large regarding what? Just because people have been working there for a long time? If someone is really good at making guns for a game, and they do it for many years with the company, that doesn't mean they should get a raise or anything. It's dependent on their performance and their personal abilities. He might be amazing at video game guns, but if that's it, why the hell should his paycheck be a million bucks if his work is only worth 200,000? If he doesn't like the paycheck he has, he can find another company that values his gun modeling skills more than Activision. That's not an uncommon thing for people to do.[/QUOTE] I never said his paycheck should be a million bucks. In fact I quite explicitly said that it stands to reason an executive who has to safeguard the financial wellbeing of a company would be getting the highest pay. But surely there is some middle ground between the CEO getting tens of millions of dollars a year for working a few weeks out of the year and the developers themselves making the tangible physical product working 40-80 hours a week every week for a year or more.

[QUOTE=mark6789;40543039]65 million dollars to the CEO and they wanna charge $15 for a map pack? Greedy as fuck. Also i bet they did save a ton of money using the same engine since Cod4.[/QUOTE] I know man, microsoft makes ton too but they sell their windows 7 and windows 8 discs for like 200 bucks that's outrageous and really greedy

[QUOTE=T2L_Goose;40544321]Well obviously he [I]is[/I] worth $65 million, or else they wouldn't be paying him that much. I'm not sure how "taking credit for everyone's work" is worth anything to a board of directors. They aren't paying him $65 million just to piss you off, it's actually a way to keep him from leaving the company and going somewhere else. I don't personally know the guy or his experience in his field. All I know is that a wage is an employers way to keep you happy so you don't leave and go someplace else with your skills that they find valuable.[/QUOTE] "Shit I don't know the guy or what he does but they pay him a lot of money so obviously he deserves it"

[QUOTE=T2L_Goose;40544321]Well obviously he [I]is[/I] worth $65 million, or else they wouldn't be paying him that much. I'm not sure how "taking credit for everyone's work" is worth anything to a board of directors. They aren't paying him $65 million just to piss you off, it's actually a way to keep him from leaving the company and going somewhere else. I don't personally know the guy or his experience in his field. All I know is that a wage is an employers way to keep you happy so you don't leave and go someplace else with your skills that they find valuable.[/QUOTE] Nobody on the fucking planet is [i]that[/i] irreplaceable. The fact that they pay him that much proves nothing, except that the board of directors at Activision is stupid enough to pay him that much.

[QUOTE=Used Car Salesman;40544006]In an hour he makes more than the majority of Americans make in an entire year. For doing what, exactly? Like, what physical work does he do that is so incredible and exclusive to him to make an hour of his time worth more than I made last year? Fuck this guy.[/QUOTE] A Dutch celebirty once defended his million dollar salary by saying: "I can do something other people can't, I'm the one with a talent other people like. Find someone with the same talent and you may replace me, until then I get payed for being the only one with my talent." Not saying Kotick is the only one capable of managing Activision, but the stockholders sure think he's doing a kick ass job doing so.

[QUOTE=ItsMozy;40544456]A Dutch celebirty once defended his million dollar salary by saying: "I can do something other people can't, I'm the one with a talent other people like. Find someone with the same talent and you may replace me, until then I get payed for being the only one with my talent." Not saying Kotick is the only one capable of managing Activision, but the stockholders sure think he's doing a kick ass job doing so.[/QUOTE] Ah yes, a dutch celebrity. Where would we ever be without the antics of a dutch celebrity. A name of a truly unforgettable and unreplacable person. [editline]6th May 2013[/editline] Besides, a few million is chump change compared to [I]64 million[/I] a year.

I find it hard to imagine a defence for someone making this much money a year What service is he providing that no one else on earth can beat for cheaper?

[QUOTE=Used Car Salesman;40544006]For doing what, exactly? Like, what physical work does he do that is so incredible and exclusive to him to make an hour of his time worth more than I made last year? .[/QUOTE] You don't have to be a fucking bricklayer to warrant an enormous paycheck. He's the CEO of a superhuge company. He's a successful dude.

[QUOTE=milkandcooki;40544614]You don't have to be a fucking bricklayer to warrant an enormous paycheck. He's the CEO of a superhuge company. He's a successful dude.[/QUOTE] I don't think you get it. There are people who do a great deal of important work who are under paid by massive amount despite doing huge tasks. A CEO obviously has a large job, but can you say that the work they perform is of such importance and such a task that only that one person is fit to the job. There's success then there's excess. Managerial work is no doubt a hard job, but is it worth more than the work of the people who are creating or building or designing or all of the above? That their work is worth so much monumentally more is strange to me and honestly seems to be something the managers are putting forth as fact

Not to mention massive income disparity like this causes economic and scoietal issues. If the wealth curve was readjusted to a more reasonable level the lower income levels would have more money to spend on goods and services, as well as just improving the general standard of living (thereby reducing related issues like crime rate)

[QUOTE=T2L_Goose;40544321]Well obviously he [I]is[/I] worth $65 million, or else they wouldn't be paying him that much. I'm not sure how "taking credit for everyone's work" is worth anything to a board of directors. They aren't paying him $65 million just to piss you off, it's actually a way to keep him from leaving the company and going somewhere else. I don't personally know the guy or his experience in his field. All I know is that a wage is an employers way to keep you happy so you don't leave and go someplace else with your skills that they find valuable.[/QUOTE] This is such a stupid mentality. What about all the banker CEOs that get payraises while the financial crisis is at its pinnacle? Can you say with a straight face that they deserve that kind of money? A garbage man is essential to a country's well-being, but for some reason a CEO gets a paycheck of more than 400 times his wage. No one is [I]that[/I] important. Sure, they should get paid more - there's loads of uneducated people around - but not that much. This mentality is quite frankly contributing to the gigantuan income inequality in the US.

I love how you cut the quote off short in the OP: [quote]Most of that money came in stock awards that were connected to a new employment agreement signed in March 2012, valued at around $55.9 million. These funds will vest over the next five years of his employment, bringing his actual cash salary for 2012 to $8.33 million – a figure much more analogous with his 2011 figure.[/quote] [QUOTE=GoDong-DK;40544790]This is such a stupid mentality. What about all the banker CEOs that get payraises while the financial crisis is at its pinnacle? Can you say with a straight face that they deserve that kind of money? A garbage man is essential to a country's well-being, but for some reason a CEO gets a paycheck of more than 400 times his wage. No one is [I]that[/I] important. Sure, they should get paid more - there's loads of uneducated people around - but not that much. This mentality is quite frankly contributing to the gigantuan income inequality in the US.[/QUOTE] The availability of people to be garbage men is really high, hence why they don't get paid much. How many people will have sufficient experience in the finance industry, know enough people in the industry, and understand all the instruments a bank utilises? Also the majority of their pay, as with Kotick, is in shares and stock options - hence the company has to do well for them to get their money out of it..

[QUOTE=Novangel;40543990]And that's $8.66 a second. Holy hell.[/QUOTE] Can I take over for him during lunch?

Ultimately, it's not about how much people "deserve". An inevitable consequence of a free market and capitalism (and all the benefits it brings) is that some people will become incredibly wealthy.

[QUOTE=latin_geek;40544295]The CEO is making 65 million dollars [I]because[/I] they charge $15 for a map pack And not to be mean but Valve's been using Source since 2004 and nobody seems to mind that much (but my engine modifications!!!)[/QUOTE] Im not complaining about the engine, im saying they probably saved money by not making a new engine. Same with Valve, im sure they saved a ton of money by just updated the source engine all these years.

[QUOTE=Raidyr;40544133]I wonder how much the guy who makes the AK47 models and animations for Call of Duty gets paid.[/QUOTE] Nothing, they haven't needed him since MW2 :v: No but seriously, the wages for modellers and code monkeys isn't exactly stellar from what I've read. Usually a bit higher than average, but you have to deal with ridiculous deadlines and all-nighters, along with assholes like Kotick telling you what they expect. Kinda sucks the art out of the art.