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Activision CEO Bobby Kotick has second secret company that donated to GOP campaigns

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Bobby Kotick, chief executive officer of Activision Blizzard Inc., walks the grounds after the morning session during the Allen & Co. conference in Sun Valley, Idaho, U.S., on Thursday, July 13, 2017.

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Bobby Kotick is the CEO of videogame maker ActivisionAnother secret company is owned by he that used to give large sums of money to Republican Campaigns.

CNBC has found out that Norgate LLC made a contribution of $500,000 via two checks to Senate Leadership Fund in the 2020 election cycle. These contributions were made through Federal Election Commission filings. The political action committee was founded to assist Republicans seeking the Senate. It is managed by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s allies.

CNBC reported Tuesday that another Kotick secret company was 807080A LLC. It had made large donations to Republican causes.

In one of the FEC filings Norgate listed a California address for 807080A LLC on its other FEC filings. At least $100,000 has been contributed by the latter company to Republican efforts. This includes a super PAC that supported Dave McCormick (ex-Bridgewater CEO), who is running for Pennsylvania’s Senate Seat in a GOP primary.

According to Google Maps, the second Norgate FEC filing indicates that an address is approximately one-minute walk away from the other location.

CNBC firstThis report focuses on the 807080A donation and its impact on the pro-McCormick external group. Each private company has matching addresses for two Kotick foundations. Activision CEO Mark Levin made the Senate Leadership Fund contribution, the most significant donation he has ever made to a political group.

As they fund their candidates, donors often create LLCs to disguise their identities. Real estate executive Stephen Rosenberg used a shell company to back then President Donald Trump after years of supporting Democrats.

The 2020 election saw a narrow victory for Democrats in the Senate. However, Republicans were able to defeat many of their challengers. According to the data of the Center for Responsive Politics, more than $270 million was spent by Senate Leadership Fund against Democrats seeking Senate seats in that cycle. Other than the Democratic wins in Georgia, data from the Center for Responsive Politics shows that the super PAC also helped Republicans win, including in North Carolina and South Carolina.

Campaign Legal Center, a watchdog group, reported the Norgate donations made to CNBC. CNBC was notified by Campaign Legal Center that its group had confirmed that personal mailbox PMB K, listed in one of the Norgate FEC filings is registered to “personal mail K.”

Mark Herr, the spokesperson for Kotick told CNBC via email on Thursday that Kotick has almost given the exact same amount of money to Democrats as Republicans in the last five years. He also highlighted the efforts of a Kotick led foundation. This statement doesn’t give any further information about Norgate LLC.

Over the last five years Mr. Kotick contributed approximately the same amount of money to Democrats as Republicans. His contributions are focused on candidates and causes primarily in support of veterans issues and specifically veterans employment,” Herr said. His giving, as well as that of Call of Duty Foundation which Herr co-chairs is in support of veterans having employment opportunities that are reflective of their sacrifices.

CNBC had previously been told by the representative of 807080A LLC that some Kotick investments were managed by this LLC. While Kotick may have given to both main political parties, the records indicate that most of his smaller individual checks were made out to Republicans.

In recent months, Activision and Kotick have been in the news.

Microsoft had announced that Activision would be purchased in January. worth north of $68 billion. Microsoft stated that it intends to complete the transaction fiscally 2023.

Numerous reports have also focused on Activision, highlighting allegations of sexual misconduct.

It Wall Street Journal reported that Kotick was aware of the allegations and sometimes didn’t inform the company’s board of directors. Activision Blizzard’s spokeswoman stated at that time Kotick wouldn’t be informed about every misconduct report at any Activision Blizzard-related company and he would also not reasonably have expected to receive updates on personnel issues.

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