Recently, Reuters journalists reported on the outcome of the dispute between Microsoft and Activision shareholders. The corporation decided to pay the plaintiffs $250 million to settle the lawsuit.
The main plaintiff was the Swedish pension fund Sjunde AP-Fonden. Activision shareholders accused former Activision Blizzard executives, including CEO Bobby Kotick, of breaching their fiduciary duties to investors. They believed that the managers acted not in the interests of the shareholders, but in their own.
According to the plaintiffs, Bobby Kotick deliberately initiated the sale of the company as quickly as possible to retain his position (all this happened against the backdrop of harassment scandals) and to gain financial benefit from the change of control of the company in the amount of $400 million. Shareholders believed that the deal amount between Microsoft and Activision Blizzard, which was $69 billion, was undervalued.
Journalists noted that Kotick's and Microsoft's counterclaims against the fund will also be settled as part of the global settlement.