Mike Lazaridis, former RIM CEO, announced his retirement as Vice Chair and a Director of BlackBerry earlier today, in an interesting twist Mike says the board had asked him to reconsider his decision to step down.
“I was asked by the board to reconsider my decision,” Mr. Lazaridis said in an interview on Thursday. “They wanted me to stay on and help.”
Mr. Lazaridis however declined as he will put his efforts into his new venture, the quantum computing investment fund but will continue to be a stakeholder of the company.
“I’m really proud of what we built together at RIM, and I believe I’m leaving it in good hands, and remain one of its largest shareholders,” said Lazaridis in an interview.
I believe I’ve now fulfilled my commitment to the board
Whether or not Mike was asked to reconsider his decision, I agree he left the company in good hands with Thorsten Heins taking over as BlackBerry is in a far better place than it was one year ago. Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie changed the way people communicated, being in such a competitive industry change was something that needed to happen so BlackBerry could continue to move forward, Mike and Jim did their part now it is time for the next chapter of BlackBerry.