Business CEO BlackBerry to get $55.6 million if he sells company

jeff juwana

Moderator
According to Bloomberg report, Chief Executive Officer of BlackBerry Ltd, Thorsten Heins will make as much as $55.6 million if he sells the company and if he is made to step down by the new owners. The amount includes salary, incentive payments and equity awards based on BlackBerry’s stock price at the end of the fiscal fourth quarter.

Speculations surrounding the sales of the Smartphone maker have led to a 19 per cent surge in the past week. BlackBerry bankers JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM) and RBC Capital Markets have contacted possible bidders to acquire the company.

Change of Control If Heins is terminated without a change of control, he is entitled to $22 million in salary, incentive payments and equity awards, based on the March 28 share price. The payout would include his base salary of $3 million and about $72,000 in benefits and retirement savings. He also is eligible for an annual incentive payment of $2.8 million, which climbs to $4.5 million in a change-of-control scenario.

The equity awards are valued at $16.1 million if he’s simply terminated and $48 million if it happens at the hands of new owners. The documents don’t specify what might occur in a more complex breakup situation. Adjusting for the difference, Heins would be eligible for a payout of about $44 million, according to Bloomberg calculations. The shares have declined 7.7 percent since the start of the year. Adam Emery, a spokesman for BlackBerry, declined to comment on the package.

Heins, who became CEO in January 2012, replaced co-founders and co-CEOs Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie, who stepped down after a management shakeup. At the time, Heins was the company’s chief operating officer, having joined BlackBerry in 2007 after more than two decades at Siemens AG. (SIE)
 
Let the guy hand over control but still remain a shareholder. That's the best decision he's got. BlackBerry is sinking and everyone knows it.
 
That would be a wise decision to drop control and remain as a shareholder. However, to a large extent, I don't think BlackBerry's "Ogas @ the top" are brain storming enough to improve upon the BlackBerry brand.

Take for instance Samsung mobile phones, which started as a simple gadget but has experienced tremendously growth and is now positioned as the second largest smartphone maker in the world. In the same way, I think BlackBerry can develop new ideas to satisfy the ever-demanding smartphone customers.

Just my thoughts, anyway.
 
^^^ I agree with you. BlackBerry still has potential, but not with it's current leaders. A fumigation is needed to get rid of the bugs. It's obvious something isn't clicking somewhere.
 
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