The Big Winner of Microsoft's $68.7 Billion Video Game Deal Is a CEO Who Lots of People Wanted Fired

Microsoft's planned $68.7 billion purchase of video game giant Activision Blizzard is, literally, one of the biggest deals ever. By raw dollars and cents, it appears to be the biggest acquisition an American tech behemoth has ever made. It dwarfs not just any deal Microsoft has done, but also anything struck up by Apple, Amazon, Google, or Facebook. It makes Microsoft's $26.2 billion LinkedIn shopping spree in 2016 look small. And it's notable not just for its size but for its timing: The deal comes in the midst of months of uproar at Activision Blizzard over its treatment of workers, many of whom have alleged a toxic, sexual harassment–filled culture at the game publisher. The companies expect the deal to close some time in the 2023 fiscal year, but it'll take longer than that to sort through all its ramifications.