On January 2, 2019, Activision Blizzard, Inc. (the Company) appointed Dennis Durkin to be the Chief Financial Officer of the Company. Mr. Durkin, 48, joined the Company in March 2012 as Chief Financial Officer and served in that role until May 2017. He served as Chief Corporate Officer of the Company from May 2017 until January 1, 2019. In connection with this appointment, the Company and Mr. Durkin have agreed to the terms of employment summarized below. These terms will be memorialized in an instrument to be entered into between the Company and Mr. Durkin.
Mr. Durkins term of employment as Chief Financial Officer began on January 2, 2019 and will continue until terminated by either the Company or Mr. Durkin upon specified prior notice. The terms of employment provide for: (a) a minimum annual base salary of $900,000, (b) eligibility to receive annual discretionary bonuses targeted at 150% of base salary, and (c) eligibility for $3 million of life insurance and other benefits generally available to Company executives.
Mr. Durkin will receive a cash sign-on bonus in an amount equal to 4.167 times his annual base salary. This amount must be repaid to the Company by Mr. Durkin if he is terminated for cause or resigns before January 2, 2020.
Mr. Durkin will also be granted, subject to the Compensation Committees approval, equity awards in the form of performance-vesting restricted share units (PSUs) having a target value at grant of 12.5 times his annual base salary (with maximum performance value to be determined). The PSUs will vest in March, 2020 and 2021, subject to the achievement of specified financial performance requirements relating to operating income and earnings per share metrics and generally subject to continuing employment on the vesting dates.
The foregoing summary does not purport to be complete. Readers are encouraged to review the final written instrument memorializing the terms, which the Company expects to file with the SEC with its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ending December 31, 2018.
Effective as of December 31, 2018, the Company terminated the employment of the Companys former Chief Financial Officer, Spencer Neumann, for cause after he violated his legal obligations to the Company. These violations were unrelated to the Companys financial reporting or disclosure controls and procedures. As previously reported, on December 31, 2018, the Company notified Mr. Neumann that the Company intended to terminate his employment as the Companys Chief Financial Officer for cause and that he had been placed on a paid leave of absence from the Company pending an opportunity for him to demonstrate why cause did not exist to terminate his employment or why termination of his employment was not otherwise justified. Subsequent to the delivery of this notice, Mr. Neumann purported to resign in breach of his legal obligations to the Company and was terminated for cause effective as of December 31, 2018.