Because of course he did
Multi-billionaire and current sixth richest man in the world,
Warren Buffett, reportedly bought a $1bn stake in
Activision Blizzard just weeks before the video game developers and publishing group was bought by
Microsoft.
According to the Financial Times, Buffet acquired a sizeable chunk weeks before the
eye-watering acquisition was completed, estimated to be worth $68.7bn.
https://twitter.com/business/status/1493339098584543233?s=20&t=zKDrGo5Hn5lpfOEyct-SXg
ATVI, as it is registered on the stock exchange, held a closing share price of $81.50 on the Monday before the sale on January 18, meaning that the stake would be worth approximately $1.2bn.
While it has not been disclosed whether Buffett’s group still holds a stake in the video game company post-acquisition, we'd say it's a fairly safe bet that his
Berkshire Hathaway holding company is very much serving its purpose. The outlet goes on to explain a securities filing for the purchase of $14.7m in shares was registered late on Monday evening.
Activision Blizzard itself is a holding company that also includes King.com, the popular mobile game developer and publisher behind
Candy Crush. Combine that with franchises like
Call of Duty and
World of Warcraft and it's easy to see how lucrative a move this was for all parties involved.
[caption id="attachment_317359" align="alignnone" width="1024"]
Credit: Getty - Activision and Blizzard merged back in 2008 following an $18.8b deal[/caption]
Berkshire is the 91-year-old's multinational conglomerate with a large and varied portfolio; for a business magnate of his calibre, the only surprise is that he didn't invest in the world's biggest entertainment industry sooner.
While Buffett doesn't seem to attract the same anti-billionaire sentiment as
Elon Musk,
Jeff Bezos or even the ex-Microsoft CEO and chairman
Bill Gates, purchasing a sizeable stake in a company still very much in the midst of numerous workplace practice lawsuits is questionable.
Even prior to their merger, both Activision and
Blizzard higher-ups had been
accused of sexual misconduct and gender-based discrimination, as well as untenable workplace conditions that revolved heavily around "
crunching".
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