Activision Blizzard CFO Spencer Neumann is on his way out of he company. On December 31st, it was revealed in an SEC filing by Activision Blizzard that the company intended to fire Neumann and has placed him on paid leave. The reason for his termination was not disclosed, but it has been uncovered by insider sources: Netflix allegedly plans to hire Neumann to be their CFO. There has been no official confirmation from either party yet, but Netflix is expected to name Neumann as their new CFO very soon.
This is not the first time Netflix has done something like this, and the company has developed a notorious reputation for poaching employees from other companies while said employees are still under contract. In fact, Netflix has come under water several times, and has faced lawsuits from Viacom, Twentieth Century Fox, and Fox for employee poaching over the past several years.
The news doesn’t come as too much as a surprise, because Netflix apparently offers the employees it poaches double or more what they are being paid to come work for Netflix. Netflix is making more money than its competitors and employees significantly less people, so they can afford to shell out big bucks to fill their executive ranks.
Whether or not Activison Blizzard will become yet another company to sue Netflix for employee poaching remains to be seen, but one thing is for certain: Spencer Neumann won’t be at Activision Blizzard for much longer.
