Back
Bobby Kotick
Former CEO of Activision Blizzard, Independent

The Moment Steve Jobs Unveiled The Macintosh to Kotick | Bobby Kotick

🎥 Mar 06, 2025 📺 Kleiner Perkins ⏱ 0m 👁 826 views
Bobby Kotick had seen plenty of tech demos, but only two ever made him stop in his tracks. One was the Nintendo Wii. The other?
Watch on YouTube

About Bobby Kotick

Bobby Kotick, the former CEO of Activision Blizzard, has continued to make public appearances and comments on a range of topics following the completion of Microsoft's acquisition of his company. In a May 2025 interview at the Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting, Kotick described the event as "a reminder of how important capitalism is as the foundation of democracy." He also expressed concerns about U.S. fiscal policy, stating that "neither one of the political parties seems to have a huge appetite for really going after spending" and that "K through 12 US expenditures are something in the neighborhood of a trillion dollars but we're now at a place where kids are graduating at 30% of their grade level expectation." Kotick has also discussed his philanthropic focus on veterans' employment, noting that veterans are "two to three times less likely than an ordinary citizen to find a job." Kotick has reflected on his tenure at Activision Blizzard and the Microsoft deal in various interviews. He stated that the company was "very surprised" by the workplace culture allegations filed against it, but said they were resolved "in a way where the bulk of that money is going to our employees, not to the state." He described the Microsoft acquisition as a response to the need for talent in AI and machine learning, saying "Microsoft is clearly right now the leader in AI and machine learning." Kotick has also shared anecdotes about his career, including a story about Steve Jobs insisting he drop out of college, and has commented on the video game industry's evolution, noting that "smartphones became the dominant form of delivery devices for video games" and that the industry has seen "the democratization of video games."

Source: AI-verified profile updated from Bobby Kotick's recent appearances. Browse all interviews →

Transcript (1 segments)
B
Bobby Kotick0:00
We made a mouse for the Apple too. We brought the mouse and our software. We showed it to him, and he looks at the mouse, he's like, 'This is a piece of...' and he threw it on the floor, and he goes, 'Why would you do two buttons? It's so complicated.' And he pulls out this little blue bag, and he unzips it, and he pulls out the prototype of the Macintosh. He turns it on, and the 'Hello' comes up. I would say to this day, other than when I saw the prototype of the Wii, there's not another moment where I looked and thought, 'The world is changing.'