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Activision-Blizzard CFO Fired for 'Causes Unrelated to the Company's Financial Reporting' - MMORPG.
SBFord
Former Associate EditorMember LegendaryPosts: 33,129
Activision-Blizzard CFO Fired for 'Causes Unrelated to the Company's Financial Reporting' - MMORPG.com News
Nasdaq.com is reporting that Activision-Blizzard Chief Financial Officer Spencer Neumann has been fired "for cause unrelated to the Company's financial reporting or disclosure controls and procedures". At the time of this writing, Neumann is on paid leave pending an appeal of the decision to remove him from his position. In the interim, former CFO Dennis Durkin will be acting CFO and will regain the position permanently if Neumann's firing stands.
Comments
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
CFO = Chief Financial Officer
"A chief financial officer (CFO) is the senior executive responsible for managing the financial actions of a company. The CFO's duties include tracking cash flow and financial planning as well as analyzing the company's financial strengths and weaknesses and proposing corrective actions."
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Boss: "So Spencer what's been happening, stock prices are plummeting do we have an explanation"
Spencer: "Yes we do, Diablo Immortal"
Boss: "YOUR FIRED"
The end
For a public company in the US like AB the CFO (Financial Director) is required - by law - to state that the company's financial statements and processes are accurate / up to scatch every quarter. Penalties depend on the infraction but could be up to $5M fine and/or up to 20 years in prison.
Depending on the company the CFO may be considered to be the company co-pilot acting alongside the CEO.
The loss of a CFO could have an impact on the company share price in the short term (positive or negative) depending on what role the CFO has played in the company's success / failure. And beyond that who the subsequent replacement is - the position must be filled. If a short term drop in the share price becomes a longer term one this can e.g. make it more expensive for a company to borrow money or make it a take over target which can result on added pressure on teams to perform.
Of course they are going to say it is not related to the numbers they could be sued a lot of money if the commission finds out they are purposely misleading and misrepresenting their stock and numbers.
There was an article i mentioned several years ago that mentioned how Blizzard again like many big businesses moves it's numbers around for several reasons,like avoiding big quarterly bonuses and to fool investors.
I think there is a lot more dirt to come out of Blizzard and it is all because Activision is taking a no nonsense approach to how Blizzard operates.
IDK about this 10 million compensation i read there,that doesn't make any sense at all.That would tell me he is not being fired for legit reasons because they wouldn't go handing out free money,especially 10 mil if they could avoid it.
Never forget 3 mile Island and never trust a government official or company spokesman.
"CFO fired, company states 'Definitely not because he was embezzling funds. It wasn't that. Seriously!'"
(But legal disclaimer - I'm not alleging or accusing anything. I have no information on the matter).
Those are not salaries - those are exactly compensations for people with certain skills to work for someone else instead of creating their own companies based on their unique skills sets, social and political connections, etc. Like, for example, I can program and manage IT projects but without equity / shares option on top of a salary - I'd better create my own business and make much more than average programmer or project manager.
Thank you for your time!
This isn't a signature, you just think it is.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-netflix-cfo-exclusive/exclusive-netflix-poaches-cfo-from-activision-blizzard-source-idUSKCN1OV19B
Activision: "So Spencer what's been happening, stock prices are plummeting, is it because of me or you?"
Spencer silently howls
Who should be held accountable? The mail guy? The art department? The guy who did the Murloc voice for WoW? Heard he's an unsavory sort...
If you're saying we have no reason to see things improving after he goes, I'm in agreement with you. They'll replace him with someone equally aloof. But if people at the top don't get booted after a big bad decision, then capitalism doesn't work.
He probably gave them his two weeks notice, but then ActivisionBlizzard probably found legal or financial reasons to make sure he was no longer employed past 12/31/2018.
Such as, if he was on the job for even just a few days past 1/1/2019, there could have been legal and / or financial obligations, such as the vesting of shares, contract provisions, etc.
Otherwise, why on earth fire the guy who is about to hand in his resignation and ready to facilitate a smooth transition to an interim appointed officer?
Firing doesn't give next months payment in some industries so maybe it was to save money ?
The problem is not company profitability; the problem is that with such enormous compensation packages (in ALL upper management positions), even a short tenure gains one so much, that staying or leaving doesn't "hurt" him/her. And when you don't care for your longevity in a company, you ultimately don't give a @#$% for the company itself.