Kotick Can't Seem To Pay Anyone, Really

When you're worth half a billion dollars, it's never a bad day to stop sniffing glue.

Bobby Kotick loses lawsuit over refusing to pay legal fees for a sexual harassment suit.

In his ruling the arbitrator described Kotick’s approach to the Madvig case as a “scorched earth defense” and cited numerous statements allegedly made by the Activision CEO during his dispute with the former flight attendant.

Describing a May 2007 meeting with Abu-Assal and Cove’s chief financial officer, the arbitrator wrote that “Mr. Kotick wanted to destroy the other side and not to pay Ms. Madvig anything…. Mr. Kotick realized this was not a good business proposition, but said ‘that he was worth one-half billion dollars and he didn’t mind spending some of it on attorneys’ fees.’”

Apparently, he then decided later that yes, he did actually mind.

In September 2007, Glaser and Kotick discussed what he and Gordon, who were paying the legal bills, owed the law firm, according to a court filing. The next month, Kotick sent a check for $200,000 along with a letter that said it was full settlement of the firm’s fees and costs. Glaser disagreed, claiming that the total owed was slightly more than $1 million.

Kotick also displays some of his previously noted ethics and charm.

At a settlement negotiation with Madvig and her attorneys later that month, as described by the arbitrator, “Mr. Kotick said ‘he would not be extorted and that he would ruin the Plaintiff and her attorney and see to it that Ms. Madvig would never work again.’”

(hat tip: @leighalexander)

  • http://geldonsgaming.blogspot.com geldonyetich

    If there’s anyone I would not try to get into a legal fight with, it’s a “top Hollywood litigator.”   That’s a bit like getting into a  wrestling match with a full-grown male grizzly bear.  Doesn’t matter if I have to hire someone to carry around my wallet in a rickshaw, that’s a battle I’m outmatched for.

  • http://idempot.net/blog/ Matthew Weigel

    @geldonyetich: I think it’s generally a bad idea to do something that gets you sued by your lawyer – whatever you’re paying the legal team, chances are good you’re doing it because you’re not as well prepared as they are. It’s not like you’re going to have an easy time of finding a new legal team to represent you against the old one, either.

  • Vaxhacker

    Giant douchebag acts like a giant douchebag.  News at 11.  /yawn

  • Joe

    I’m as big a fan of capitalism as the next guy, but I think there’s something to be said for various forms of regulation that keep compensation in the “You’re pretty damn rich” range rather than the “You’re stratospherically rich” range — because when the straospheric option is available, the people that end up shooting for the moon and succeeding like that have glaring personality defects like this guy that eventually end up undoing their hard work.
     
    Or, put another way, if I were on the Board of Directors of a company run by someone like Bobby Kotick, item A would be to fire him and replace him with someone buttoned-down and boring. They might not pursue possible profits with the same unquenchable zeal, but at least they wouldn’t actively end up destroying their own hard work through their hubris.

  • hitnrun

    Bobby, Bobby, Bobby. You threatened the lawyer? Aloud? That’s just JV. You never threaten the lawyer unless you’re willing to go the extra mile and break into their home.

  • JuJutsu

    Vaxhacker:
    Giant douchebag acts like a giant douchebag.  News at 11.  /yawn

     
    Giant douchebag ruled against by arbitrator is always good reading.

  • Jeff

    If ever a great advancement in film making inspires George Lucas to redo the original Star Wars, again, Lucas should put a Bobby Kotick look alike in the Mos Eisley cantina.

  • http://geldonsgaming.blogspot.com geldonyetich

    Just received this over X-Fire.  This is your kind of thing, right Lum?
    Xfire was bought by new owners today. Most of the team that has built Xfire over the last six years is leaving. We enjoyed working for you for the last 127 releases and wish we could stay to create the next 127. Good bye, good luck, and game on. — The Xfire Team

  • Scott Jennings

    Ouch.

  • Scott Jennings

    I caught the same note on their website JUST BEFORE it was taken down. This looks ugly. Thanks for the heads up, full post to follow.

  • http://geldonsgaming.blogspot.com geldonyetich

    Poor choice of wording on my part.  Ouch indeed for the X-Fire team.

  • Aufero

    It’s hard to find a dumber move than hiring the best legal representation you can find and then refusing to pay what you owe them.  Guess which side is going to have the best lawyers when they go to court over it?

  • Zuzax

    This quote from the article interested me as to whether it will be the same strategy Kotick uses with the Infinity Ward litigation:
    “Regardless of whether the case drags on, it’s clear that Kotick and Gordon spent a good deal of money – far more than if they had opted to settle with Madvig at the outset.

    In an e-mail to The Times, Glassman noted a particular statement in the arbitrator’s summary that referred to Kotick: “’Like many successful businessmen, the principle was more important [to him] than the economics.’” “

    It would be cheaper to pay, but he’d rather win. Maybe he’s a gamer after all.

  • Carson

    The guy is sleazy and gross. But he brings the cash (I guess?) and that’s all the board/investors care about apparently.
     
    If it were my company I wouldn’t want someone with that kind of image being the face of it.

  • =j

    You can screw some of the people some of the time, but you can’t screw everyone.  Note that the later group often includes lawyers.

  • http://geekragequit.blogspot.com ScytheNoire

    What a giant douchebag. I really hope his lawyers sue the hell out of him. I hope he falls off a boat in the middle of shark infested waters. Can’t imagine even his family throwing this douchebag a life-preserver.

  • Iconic

    “@geldonyetich: I think it’s generally a bad idea to do something that gets you sued by your lawyer – whatever you’re paying the legal team, chances are good you’re doing it because you’re not as well prepared as they are. It’s not like you’re going to have an easy time of finding a new legal team to represent you against the old one, either.”

    It’s also not like you’ll have an easy time finding quality lawyers to represent you against quality lawyers when the issue is non payment of fees. It’s ALSO not like a top law firm is going to have a hard time at all proving that you owe them money. Sure, those hours are padded. They’re always padded. But they’re documented. You’re never going to be able to prove that the hours aren’t billable so what’s the basis of your argument?

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