Lazaridis and Balsillie to be ousted as co-chairmen, report claims

In light of increased pressure from shareholders, Research In Motion is preparing to replace current co-chairmen of the board Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie. The Financial Post on Tuesday reported that RIM will soon shake up its corporate structure, likely removing both company co-founders from their current board seats. The pair would remain co-CEOs and a new single chairman would be appointed in their place. According to the Financial Posts’s unnamed sources, independent director and RIM board member Barbara Stymiest is currently the front-runner to replace Lazaridis and Balsillie. In response to increased shareholder unrest, RIM agreed this past summer to assemble a committee that would investigate splitting the co-CEO and co-chairmen roles. Stymiest is a member of the committee carrying out the investigation, and she has been a member of RIM’s board of directors since 2007. RIM’s stock was up 2% on the rumor in pre-market trading.

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Tags: Barbara Stymiest, BlackBerry, co-chairmen, Jim Balsillie, Mike Lazaridis, RIM

Zach Epstein