Meet the New Head of Research In Motion

Posted 01/23/2012 at 7:49am | by Paul Lilly

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Research In Motion (RIM) is no longer at two-headed beast after it's Board of Directors acted on the recommendation of its co-CEOs Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis to implement the succession plan they previously submitted to the Board, RIM said in a statement. The unanimous decision has been made to name Thorsten Heins as President and Chief Executive Officer, effectively immediately.

Lazaridis, who founded RIM in 1984, will now serve as vice chairman of RIM's Board, and Balsillie will remain a member of the Board. Barbara Stymiest, a former banker and stock exchange executive, has been named Chairman of the Board. RIM also named Prem Watsa, CEO of Fairfax Financial Holdings, to the Board.

Heins, who joined RIM four years ago as COO of Product Engineering, has held several positions in the wireless arena and previously served as CTO of Siemens' Communications Division along with several general management positions in Hardware and Software businesses, according to his bio on RIM's website. He now faces perhaps his biggest challenge as he tries to return RIM to competitive relevance and boost the company's stock price. According to Bloomberg, RIM, at one time the most valuable company in Canada, has lost 88 percent since peaking four years ago.