Activision Blizzard Inc. and its shareholders have been at odds about the chief executive’s compensation for years, but as CEO Bobby Kotick’s 2020 pay package hit more than $150 million while the videogame publisher company laid off employees, the battle turned into an all-out war.

At its annual general meeting last week, the “Call of Duty” publisher hit the pause button on an investor vote on its executive compensation, delaying it for a week. Investment firm CtW Investment Group, which had urged shareholders to vote against the “say on pay” proposal, called the company’s move a “desperate attempt to avoid a loss.” READ MORE