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Former boss does RIM job on Blackberry

by on15 February 2013



I can still stuff things up you know?


RIM’s former Co-Chief Executive Officer Jim Balsillie has shown that even though he might not be in charge of the new look Blackberry, he can still stuff things up for the company.

Balsillie and his co-CEO Mike Lazaridis were widely considered as responsible for the outfit losing its grip on the mobile market. They resigned in January last year. Later in March Balsillie quit RIMs Board of Directors because he wanted the company to continue its existing strategy of losing ground where as the new CEO had other ideas.

While many shareholders hoped that Balsillie had gone for good and he could no longer damage the outfit, it appears they were wrong. Shares of Blackberry slipped on Thursday, after Balsillie disclosed that he had sold his once-sizable stake in the embattled smartphone maker.

Balsillie said that by the end of last year he had sold his entire stake in the company. Balsillie, who stepped down as CEO a year ago, owned about 26.8 million shares, or a roughly five percent stake in the company, as of December 31, 2011. Shares of BlackBerry were down 3.4 percent at $13.52 in early trading on the Nasdaq, while its Toronto-listed shares fell 3.5 percent to C$13.51.

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