Treasurers From Six States Ask For "Sweeping Changes" To Be Made In Activision Blizzard Leadership

Who had "six state treasurers" on the list of "people who don't believe Bobby Kotick can enact meaningful change to address the culture at Activision Blizzard"? I mean, alongside you, me, Phil Spencer, a group of shareholders, and a decent chunk of AB staff?

Axios is reporting that treasurers from the states of California, Massachusetts, Illinois, Oregon, Delaware, and Nevada have called upon Activision Blizzard "to make meaningful change over harassment allegations, unequal pay and other workplace issues" -- and that those issues, the treasurers feel, cannot be adequately addressed by current leadership.

Speaking on behalf of his colleagues in a letter dated November 23, Illinois state treasurer Michael Frerichs said that "We think there needs to be sweeping changes made in the company" and that they are "concerned that the current CEO and board of directors don't have the skillset, nor the conviction to institute these sweeping changes needed to transform their culture, to restore trust with employees and shareholders and their partners."

Massachusetts state treasure Deborah Goldberg told Axios that she would like to see “a true investigation, an outside investigator," rather than the measures supposedly underway by Kotick that include an in-house committee.

The treasurers are requesting a meeting with Activision by December 20. They said that they would "weigh" a "call to vote against the re-election of incumbent directors."

And what power do half a dozen state treasurers have to enact such changes with a private company? As Axios noted, Frerichs confirmed that Illinois "has investments in Activision Blizzard and is therefore impacted by the company’s plummeting stock price." It's likely that the other five states, and possibly others, also have some stake in the company's performance -- perhaps even enough to influence change at its highest levels.