Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick is being investigated by the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for alleged involvement in insider trading.
U.S. regulators are investigating issues related to the timely trading of Activision Blizzard securities. Kotick met at least one of the three traders days before they made big bets on Activision Blizzard stock, people familiar with the matter said. U.S. regulators are investigating their meeting.
On January 14 this year, Alexander von Furstenberg, founder of the American investment firm Arrow Capital, media tycoons Barry Diller and David Geffen bought shares that can be sold at a price per share. $40 option to buy Activision Blizzard stock.
Just a week before that, Kotick met von Furstenberg. The options deal, arranged days before Activision Blizzard agreed to be acquired by Microsoft for $95 a share, generated an unrealized profit of $59 million.
The Justice Department is investigating whether the options trades violated insider trading laws, people familiar with the matter said. The SEC is also conducting a separate civil insider trading investigation.
Diller previously said in an interview that neither of them had material non-public information about the Microsoft-Activision Blizzard deal. He also confirmed that they had been contacted by regulators.
We don’t know anything about acquisitions. It’s easy to mistake us for the information ahead of time to make a deal. Equally implausible is the fact that seasoned professional Kotick was at a social breakfast with von Furstenberg and his wife. , will tell them about the upcoming deal,” Diller said in an email.
Von Furstenberg disclosed his breakfast meeting with Kotick when law enforcement interviewed him about the deal, people familiar with the matter said. Von Furstenberg and Geffen were yet to comment.
At this time, Kotick’s status in the investigation is unknown. He has not yet been interviewed by law enforcement, the people said. The Justice Department and the SEC declined to comment.