Whether a “drastic change” is needed or there is already “a lot of change”, former RIM CEO Mike Lazaridis (the same one who flipped out on the BBC during an interview) still believes in the BlackBerry.
Forget the fact that the company’s balance sheet is half they were at the beginning of 2011, and never mind the fact that the stock dropped 8 percent on the first day after new CEO Thorsten Heins started. Lazaridis still thinks an out-of-pocket $50 million investment in RIM stock is well worth it.
In an interview with The Record, Lazaridis said “I absolutely know he will take this company to new heights,” referencing Heins. Heins replaced Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie as CEO last week after shareholders became fed up with poor stock performance in the past year.
Despite the fact that shareholders have been grumbling, Lazaridis claims that the decision to put Heins in charge has been in the works for over four years, calling the alternative of choosing leadership outside of RIM “a guess.” For now, Lazaridis will be an investor in the company, and the head of a newly formed “innovation committee” at RIM.