Company and Industry Veteran, Durkin Has Served with Principle and
Integrity on the Executive Leadership Team Since 2012, Most Recently as
Chief Corporate Officer
SANTA MONICA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 2, 2019--
Activision Blizzard, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATVI) today announced that Dennis
Durkin has been named Chief Financial Officer, effective immediately,
reprising the role he held from March 2012 to May 2017. Most recently,
Mr. Durkin had been serving as Chief Corporate Officer for the Company.
As CFO, Mr. Durkin will continue to report directly to Activision
Blizzard CEO, Bobby Kotick. In this role, Mr. Durkin will oversee
Activision Blizzard’s finance, accounting, corporate strategy, financial
planning & analysis (FP&A), investor relations, internal audit, tax and
treasury, and IT areas of the business.
“Dennis is a leader with unimpeachable integrity and exemplary character
who displays impeccable judgment. He is a seasoned leader known for
driving financial and operational excellence. We missed having him in a
more day-to-day operational and financial role and are glad to have him
back as CFO,” said Bobby Kotick, CEO of Activision Blizzard. “He brings
an engaging and rigorous approach to the CFO role and is highly regarded
by the analyst and investor communities, our business partners and his
colleagues. His deep understanding of our industry, and long-established
working relationships within the finance organization will ensure a
seamless transition.
His expertise in delivering shareholder value, combined with his deep
understanding of our organization and his unwavering integrity, will be
instrumental as we enter into our next phase of growth.”
Mr. Durkin replaces Spencer Neumann who was terminated for cause for
violating his legal obligations to the Company.
“I’m proud of Activision Blizzard’s long track record of delivering
world-class interactive entertainment,” said Dennis Durkin, CFO of
Activision Blizzard. “I look forward to returning to the role as CFO,
and to partnering with the Company’s talented management team to drive
superior value for our employees, player communities and our
shareholders.”
During Mr. Durkin’s tenure as Chief Financial Officer of Activision
Blizzard, the company delivered strong financial performance, and a
greater than 400 percent increase in the stock price during that time.
Mr. Durkin also played an instrumental role in executing highly
successful transactions including the transformative buyback of shares
from Vivendi in 2013, the creation of an efficient capital structure
leading to investment grade status, and the value-accretive expansion
into mobile through the acquisition of King in 2016.
Prior to joining the company, Mr. Durkin held a number of positions of
increasing responsibility at Microsoft Corporation during an over
twelve-year period, including corporate vice president and chief
operating and financial officer of Microsoft’s interactive entertainment
business (IEB), which included the Xbox console business. During his
tenure as a member of IEB's leadership team, the team was credited with
turning the business from a significant operating loss to greater than
$1 billion in annual profit. He holds a B.A. degree in government from
Dartmouth College and an M.B.A. degree from Harvard University.
About Activision Blizzard
Activision Blizzard, Inc., a member of the Fortune 500 and S&P 500, is
the world's most successful standalone interactive entertainment
company. We delight hundreds of millions of monthly active users around
the world through franchises including Activision's Call of Duty®,
Destiny, and Skylanders®, Blizzard Entertainment's World of Warcraft®,
Overwatch®, Hearthstone®, Diablo®, StarCraft®, and Heroes of the Storm®,
and King's Candy Crush™, Bubble Witch™, and Farm Heroes™. The company is
one of the Fortune "100 Best Companies To Work For®." Headquartered in
Santa Monica, California, Activision Blizzard has operations throughout
the world. More information about Activision Blizzard and its products
can be found on the company's website, www.activisionblizzard.com.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190102005175/en/
Source: Activision Blizzard, Inc.
Activision Blizzard, Inc.
Kristin Binns, 917-697-7802
Chief
Communications Officer
Kristin.Binns@activision.com