US Senators “Deeply Concerned” About Microsoft’s Proposed Deal To Buy Activision Blizzard

A group of US Senators, including Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, are calling for greater scrutiny over Microsoft’s proposed buyout of Activision Blizzard, citing concerns about the reports of misconduct at the Call of Duty giant. The Wall Street Journal first reported on this.

The US Senators–including Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, Cory Booker, and Sheldon Whitehouse–wrote their letter to Federal Trade Commission chair Lina Khan. The lawmakers said the FTC ought to find out if Microsoft’s proposed buyout of Activision Blizzard could “exacerbate the flurry of sexual-abuse, harassment and retaliation allegations at Activision stemming from recent federal and state investigations.”

Just this week, a judge approved Activision Blizzard’s settlement over workplace culture issues that will see the company create an $18 million fund to compensate and make amends to affected workers. This was just one of the lawsuits Activision Blizzard is facing regarding its workplace issues.

The senators also said they are concerned that Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick, who himself has been accused of knowing about and covering up instances of sexual harassment and other abuse, will remain with the company and potentially earn a massive payout under the terms of the deal. It’s been reported that Kotick will leave after the deal goes through.

It’s a rule that mergers of a significant size must be approved by the US government over antitrust matters, so a review was always going to happen. But the senators are submitting their feedback separate from that and to cite their own specific concerns. The WSJ previously reported that Khan, the FTC chair, would specifically look into whether or not Microsoft’s proposed buyout of Activision Blizzard would “substantially lessen competition.”

“We are deeply concerned about consolidation in the tech industry and its impact on workers,” the Democratic Senators said in their letter, as reported by The Wall Street Journal.

Microsoft’s CEO, Satya Nadella, believes that the deal will go through, which is not a surprise. He said in an interview that, if the deal should materialize, Microsoft will still be number three in terms of market share.

Microsoft is looking to pay $68.7 billion to acquire Activision Blizzard as part of the technology giant’s biggest acquisition of all time. It would be just the latest big buyout from Microsoft, which purchased ZeniMax in 2021 for $7.5 billion.