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The FTC isn’t happy with Microsoft’s Activision Blizzard layoffs
And it’s telling on Microsoft
“As we move forward in 2024, the leadership of Microsoft Gaming and Activision Blizzard is committed to aligning on a strategy and an execution plan with a sustainable cost structure that will support the whole of our growing business,” CEO Phil Spencer said at the time. The FTC lawyer also cited in the letter Microsoft’s intention “to maintain the pre-merger status quo” with its “vertical acquisition of Activision,” specifically contrasted with a horizontal merger, where companies often “eliminate redundancies.” Abyad’s point is that Microsoft’s stated plan to work as a vertically merged “limited-integration studio” implies it wouldn’t need to eliminate redundancies and lay off workers — at least in the FTC’s reading. That deal went through, but was later appealed, forcing Whole Foods to settle with the FTC by giving up the Wild Oats brand name and 32 stores in 2009, according to Reuters.
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