Mike Lazaridis & Jim Balsillie Statement on Steve Jobs

The whole world seems a bit shook up today and condolences for Steve Jobs have been flowing in from every corner. RIM’s co-CEO’s Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie also had a statement on Steve Jobs passing. Here is what they said via CityTV/WSJ:

"Steve Jobs was a great visionary and a respected competitor," Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie, co-CEOs of rival Research in Motion (TSX:RIM), said in a statement. “We extend our deepest condolences to his family and to all of the employees of Apple.”

There are quite a few interesting stories being shared about Steve Jobs. I recommend checking out Techmeme today for most of the stories.

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Hot! RIM’s “Operation Disruptive Transformation” to Stomp the Competition?

A new tipster sent us a slide deck that we really had to post. From what we are hearing Mike and Jim and his senior team are pushing this Operation Disruptive Transformation at RIM which was designed by John J. Simpson. The tipster told us that upper management is totally committed to this strategy. This is just the overview deck and there are supposedly 2 others we are trying to get our hands on. Either way I am pumped and it seems like the teams at RIM are too. Even if the slides are not the real deal I am really hoping RIM’s execs have a similar plan.

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RIM Annual General Meeting is July 12th – Vote on Co-CEOs Standing

In the weeks since BlackBerry World in May we have been hearing more and more about shareholders wanting RIM to split up the duties of their Co-CEOs who are both Chairmen of the board and Co-CEOs. There is actually a vote “Schedule A” during their Annual General Meeting this July 12th to decide on this and RIM seems to be very much against it. Since I understand very little about this sort of thing I found it enlightening to read The Toronto Star’s analysis of the situation. Its a great read if you want to learn a bit more about the history and how common it is and why it may or may not be a good idea.

I then started to read RIM’s Notice of Meeting / Proxy Circular – Fiscal 2011 (PDF) which includes the Schedule A that will be voted on at this years meeting. The details start on page 50 of the document and include the proposal from Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. including RIM’s response as to why this is not a good idea. I put screenshots of the Schedule A below:

Let us know if you spot anything interesting! Thanks to RedNightHawk for sending in the Toronto Star article!

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The Joy of Tech Takes a Crack at RIM’s Co-CEOs

RIM has been getting a ton of flack since BlackBerry World over their co-CEO structure. Nobody really had issues with it for years and suddenly its a hot button issue. Some investors are making noise about RIM’s CEO’s stepping down but just ask Apple and Microsoft how well it works out when a founding CEO steps down. Either way I thought you guys would want to see this courtesy of AllThingsD:

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