LA Biz Observed: Activision CEO gets ranked

Activision CEO gets ranked

Mark Lacter • Bio • Email

Bobby Kotick of Santa Monica-based Activision makes his debut on Vanity Fair's New Establishment list, the magazine’s annual ranking of the top 100 movers and shakers. Kotick is No. 72, and if that doesn't seem like a big deal, consider that Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin is in the top spot and Rupert Murdoch is second. Kotick has been getting lots of press since Activision acquired Vivendi's Blizzard Entertainment division, which focuses on multi-player online game. Here's what VF says about Kotick:

SPHERE OF INFLUENCE: Last year Activision surpassed longtime market leader Electronic Arts to become the world’s biggest-selling video-game-maker when Kotick, 45, acquired Vivendi’s Blizzard Entertainment division, maker of World of Warcraft, the massively multi-player online game that has generated more than $1 billion in sales. The jewel of his portfolio: Guitar Hero, a billion-dollar seller that lets would-be rockers strum along on a fake guitar.
CRIB: A Beverly Hills home adorned with art from modern masters such as de Kooning.

FATHER FIGURE: Casino magnate Steve Wynn wrote a $300,000 check to Kotick, who dropped out of the University of Michigan to develop graphical software for the Apple II. (Steve Jobs pronounced it “garbage.”) The start-up failed, but in 1990 Wynn helped him take over Activision.

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