Activision's Kotick Earned $15 Million In 2008

Activision Blizzard chairman and CEO Bobby Kotick recently touted the publisher's four consecutive quarters of beating expectations under his watch, and a new profile of the exec in business mag Forbes reveals he earned nearly $15 million in compensation for his performance in 2008. The precise amount is reportedly $14,950,102.00, just $899,560 of which is his actual salary. Millions in options and incentives plus a $5 million bonus combines to comprise the total year's earnings. The 46 year-old Kotick has been a director at Activision since 1991, according to the profile, and served as chairman and CEO since February of that year. He is also on the Board of Trustees for The Center for Early Education, chairs the Trustees at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and has a seat on the Board at the Tony Hawk Foundation. The exec is primarily known to the gaming audience for his occasionally controversial frankness on Activision Blizzard's profit goals, and his aggressive stance toward the company's rivals and the market in general. He's challenged Warner Music CEO Edgar Bronfman on the relationship of rhythm games to the music industry, suggesting it's the games biz that deserves further compensation, and this year, he publicly threatened to withdraw support for the PlayStation 3 by 2011 without a price cut from Sony to drive userbase expansion. Most recently, Kotick's jest on the company's financial results call to investors that "if it was left to me, I would raise [software] prices even further" was widely criticized in the games press.