Ex-Activision Boss Bobby Kotick Reportedly Interested in Buying TikTok

Former Activision CEO Bobby Kotick is reportedly interested in buying TikTok if ByteDance agrees to sell the social media platform.

TikTok is currently under scrutiny amid a potential ban in the U.S. or the forced sale by current owner ByteDance. Some politicians have expressed concern that ByteDance, which is based in Beijing, China, would share data about its users with the Chinese government. A new bill that would ban TikTok in the U.S. or force its sale recently passed the House Energy and Commerce Committee 50-0, and is now heading toward a vote in the House.

According to the Wall Street Journal, one surprising interested potential buyer is Bobby Kotick, who left Activision Blizzard late last year following Microsoft's $69 billion acquisition of the company behind Call of Duty.

The WSJ said Kotick "expressed interest" to ByteDance co-founder Zhang Yiming, with the price tag estimated to be in the hundreds of billions of dollars. Kotick, the WSJ continued, is looking for partners, one of which is OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.

"OpenAI could use TikTok to help train its AI models if a partner such as Kotick could raise the capital for such an acquisition," the WSJ said. In any case, there are questions over the likelihood that the bill will pass both the House and the Senate, although President Biden has said he would sign the legislation if Congress passed it.

Kotick was the controversial CEO of Activision Blizzard for 32 years before he stepped down on December 29 as part of a reorganization following the acquisition of the company by Microsoft. Kotick oversaw Activision for over half of its lifespan, and was in charge during the Call of Duty franchise's explosive success, as well as the Guitar Hero era. Kotick remained in charge following the Blizzard Entertainment owner Vivendi's merger with Activision, and, more recently, Activision Blizzard's takeover of Candy Crush maker King.

Kotick also oversaw the company through a period of time called out by the state of California in a 2021 lawsuit as encompassing widespread gender discrimination and gender-based pay inequality. Among the numerous accusations levied against the company regarding its treatment of women include claims that Kotick knew about the accusations "for years" but did not actively address them.

In December, the California Civil Rights Department reached a $54 million settlement with Activision Blizzard over these claims, finding that "no court or any independent investigation has substantiated any allegations that: there has been systemic or widespread sexual harassment at Activision Blizzard," or that Activision Blizzard's board of directors including Kotick "acted improperly with regard to the handling of any instances of workplace misconduct."