Microsoft, activision CEOs to defend $69 billion deal in fight with regulator

Microsoft Chief Executive Officer Satya Nadella and Activision Blizzard Inc. CEO Bobby Kotick will be in court this week to try to persuade a federal judge in California to reject the Federal Trade Commission's effort to block their $69 billion deal.

US District Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley is presiding at a five-day hearing in San Francisco starting Thursday over the FTC's bid to prevent Microsoft from acquiring Activision while the agency's legal challenge to the deal is pending. Nadella and Kotick were listed as key witnesses.

Other top Microsoft executives, including CFO Amy Hood and Phil Spencer, who heads Microsoft Gaming, are expected to take the witness stand, as well as Activision's CFO Armin Zerza, according to the filing.


By appearing in court, the executives will defend the blockbuster deal, which would catapult Microsoft to the No. 3 position in the global games market after Tencent and Sony Group and submit to tough questioning from FTC lawyers.

It's unclear when Corley may rule, but a decision could come as soon as right after the hearing, which is slated to last through June 29.