The gaming community is very familiar with the name Bobby Kotick, especially since he was the CEO of Activision Blizzard for more than three decades. After his long career in the gaming market, the former executive is now eyeing TikTok for an acquisition.
Bobby Kotick's Potential TikTok Acquisition
TikTok is on the verge of being banned in the U.S. as lawmakers and leaders are eager to eliminate the risks that come with the China-based app. The only way it would remain operational is if its parent company, ByteDance, divested the app.
That's where the former Activision Blizzard executive comes in with his interest in buying TikTok. Kotick sprung the idea with partnerships in mind, particularly with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman during a conference dinner.
The idea was even brought to ByteDance Executive Chair Zhang Yiming, as reported by Engadget. If all goes to plan and Kotick manages to get his hands on the popular app, it could cost hundreds of billions of dollars to purchase it.
While the idea has only been floated, and there are no official plans, the former Activision CEO and his potential partners are in a good position, especially since TikTok's ban is becoming increasingly possible as more leaders vote to pass the ban bill.
The problem is that Bobby Kotick doesn't exactly have the best track record in leadership within the company. There have been several allegations of him ignoring the toxic workplace within the video game company giant, where sexual harassment and gender discrimination were reportedly rampant.
Other than sitting idly by as these misconducts happened, he reportedly failed to properly disclose the issues to the board. He was urged to resign by employees to the point that they walked out, but it was only the acquisition by Microsoft that finally got him to step down.
TikTok's Ban
The looming ban on the short-form video app has become more imminent than ever. Other than legislators pushing for it to happen, U.S. President Joe Biden has also joined their side, saying he is willing to sign the bill that will finally ban the app.
"If they pass it, I'll sign it," says the national leader.
The bill called "Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act" will force ByteDance to sell TikTok within six months, or it will be banned from U.S. app stores and web-hosting services, as reported by CBS News.
One of the major reasons behind the bill is the risks that the app poses due to its ability to collect "tremendous amounts of sensitive data," as well as the possibility that the Chinese government could use it to influence American users.
TikTok has already asked its users for help in its fight against the ban. A push notification appeared on the app among U.S. users, which stated that the ban would result in 170 million Americans being stripped of their Constitutional right to free expression.
Interestingly, the company didn't even need to send this notice as many people would gladly help voice their disagreement with the bill. After all, the app has been a source of income for many content creators in the country.
