Activision Executives Turn Their $100 Million Into $1.2 Billion

When the French telecom giant Vivendi SA wanted to get out of video games and pay down debt in 2013, the heads of its Activision Blizzard business engineered an unusual deal — one that’s about to deliver them a $1 billion profit, at least on paper. Vivendi agreed to sell 601 million Activision shares. While most of the stock was bought back by the video game company — the producer of hits like Call of Duty — its leaders Bobby Kotick and Brian Kelly led a group that purchased about 30 percent through a partnership called ASAC II, putting in $100 million of their own money.