Wait for the kicker, it’s a doozy.
Activision has spent much of this year going through the wringer. But it may well have come to a head earlier, were it not for some alleged actions by Meta COO Sheryl Sandberg. According to a report by The Wall Street Journal, Sandberg used company resources to kill negative reporting on Activision CEO Bobby Kotick back in 2016. The kicker? The two of them were dating at the time. This has stirred Meta to conduct a “review” to determine “whether she violated the company’s rules.”
The report states that at the time, British tabloid MailOnline was working on a story based on allegations made by Kotick’s former girlfriend, who had obtained a temporary restraining order against him. Sandberg and Kotick worked together, once in 2016 and once in 2019, to “persuade the Daily Mail not to report on the restraining order.” The report goes on to note that both Facebook and Activision staff were directly involved in the effort. Some at Facebook were worried that the story would “reflect negatively on her reputation as an advocate for women.”
The report also questions whether Sandberg actually did misuse her influence when dealing with MailOnline. One unnamed source quoted Bobby Kotick as having “told people that Ms. Sandberg threatened the Mail in 2016 by saying that such an article, if published, could damage the news organization’s business relationship with Facebook.” Kotick, in an interview with The Wall Street Journal, denies having said that.
A Meta spokesperson, speaking to The WSJ, denied that Sandberg had done anything of the sort while dealing with MailOnline.
Sheryl Sandberg never threatened the MailOnline’s business relationship with Facebook in order to influence an editorial decision. This story attempts to make connections that don’t exist.
Activision’s board of directors, on the other hand, said the following:
The Board has been aware of the circumstances reported involving an incident in 2014. Around the time of the incident in 2014 , Mr. Kotick notified the senior Independent Director of the Board, has subsequently updated the full Board and has been fully transparent with the Board. The Board, through its counsel Skadden Arps, has done a thorough examination of the facts and circumstances of the events, satisfied itself that there was no merit to the allegations, and notes that they concern a personal relationship that has nothing to do with the business of the Company. The Board continues to have full confidence in Mr. Kotick’s leadership and his ability to run the Company.
Source: Engadget
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