RIM co-CEOs Lazaridis & Balsillie step down, COO steps in
Research in Motion announced a major change to their corporate hierarchy late yesterday, with COO Thorsten Heins replacing co-CEOs Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis at the top as the new President and CEO of RIM. A new independent board chairman was also announced – Barbara Stymiest.
Balsillie and Lazardis, who apart from being co-CEOs, were also co-chairmen for nearly 20 years. Lazardis will now become the vice-chairman, and Balsillie will remain a board member. A new board member was also appointed – Prem Watsa, chief executive of Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd.
Speaking to the press, Basillie and Lazardis said that the two suggested the leadership change to the board themselves, and that their current strategies will see continuity under Heins. They reassured shareholders that RIM’s major projects for 2012 are still on track – specifically, the new PlayBook, the new QNX-based BlackBerry 10 operating system, and its platform lead device.
Heins clarified that there are no plans for putting RIM on sale, and that the company is hoping the new BB10 operating system is a big enough hit to even be licensed to other vendors.
RIM posted an introductory video for Mr. Heins, which you can check out below:
Source: Bloomberg