The Board of Directors of BlackBerry maker Research In Motion (RIM) (NASDAQ: RIMM; TSX: RIM) has announced that, acting on the recommendation of its Co-Chief Executive Officers to implement the succession plan they previously submitted to the Board, it has unanimously named Thorsten Heins as President and Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Heins was also appointed to RIM’s Board. The Board acted after conducting its own due diligence. Both appointments are effective immediately.
Mike Lazaridis, former Co-Chair and Co-CEO, has become Vice Chair of RIM’s Board and Chair of the Board’s new Innovation Committee. As Vice Chair, he will work closely with Mr. Heins to offer strategic counsel, provide a smooth transition and continue to promote the BlackBerry brand worldwide.
Mr. Heins said he looks forward to continuing to work with Mr. Lazaridis, globally recognized as a technology pioneer. He said, “Mike created a whole new way of communicating and I look forward to continuing our close collaboration.”
On the transition to CEO by Mr. Heins, Mr. Lazaridis said, “There comes a time in the growth of every successful company when the founders recognize the need to pass the baton to new leadership. Jim and I went to the Board and told them that we thought that time was now. With BlackBerry 7 now out, PlayBook 2.0 shipping in February and BlackBerry 10 expected to ship later this year, the company is entering a new phase, and we felt it was time for a new leader to take it through that phase and beyond. Jim, the Board and I all agreed that leader should be Thorsten Heins.”
RIM and SAGIA Announce The BlackBerry Entrepreneurship Academy at the 6th Global Competitiveness Forum with program to support BlackBerry application developers in Saudi Arabia. Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia - Research In Motion Limited (NASDAQ: RIMM; TSX: RIM), the maker of BlackBerry® smartphones, and the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA) today expressed their commitment to form The BlackBerry Entrepreneurship Academy.
The BlackBerry Entrepreneurship Academy, which is to be funded by SAGIA and its sister institutions, Cadre and The Centennial Fund, aims to: Through the academy, RIM will provide training workshops, a support team and consultation to help entrepreneurial Saudi developers with the commercial and technical aspects of developing mobile applications and content.
The press conference to announce the academy took place at the 6th Global Competitiveness Forum (GCF), and was attended by Dr. Abdulaziz al-Mutairi, CEO of The Centennial Fund; Mr. Fahd Hamidaddin, Chief of Marketing and Competitiveness Initiatives, SAGIA; Mr. Patrick Spence, Managing Director for Global Sales and Regional Marketing, RIM; and Mr. Sandeep Saihgal, Managing Director, Middle East, RIM.
Mr. Fahd Hamidaddin, Chief of Marketing and Competitiveness Initiatives, SAGIA commented, “This agreement demonstrates SAGIA’s commitment to support ‘digital entrepreneurship’ and the further development of the mobile application industry in the Kingdom. We see an increasing demand in this region for localized applications and mobile content and this is creating an opportunity for enterprising software developers. The programmes under the BlackBerry Entrepreneurship Academy will significantly increase the number of applications available in Saudi Arabia, the Middle East region and globally, and enable new skills and more job opportunities in the Kingdom.”
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