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Home»BlackBerry News»News & Rumors

RIM Co-CEOs Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis reduce their salaries to $1 per year

by Adam Zeis on 15 Dec 2011 05:07 PM
52
 

RIM Third Quarter Results

Early on in the Third Quarter 2012 Earnings Call today, Jim Balsillie took the reins as we anxiously awaited news on the results. He prefaced the third quarter results by stating that both he and Mike Lazaridis will be lowering their salaries to just $1 per year. Woah. I guess this means they won't be stepping down anytime soon. A pretty amazing move by the CEOs here, but we'll have to see how it pans out long term and if it will hold any benefit to the financial situation. Balsillie and Lazaridis have already lost their billionaire status and the shareholders are still looking to split the CEO and chairman roles.

Filed Under: News & Rumors; Tags: RIM
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52 Comments

Posted by Wolf35Nine Thursday, Dec 15, 2011 69 days ago

No problem. I'm still buying RIM stock!

 
 
Posted by q649 Thursday, Dec 15, 2011 69 days ago

Let's hope they're worth the $2.

 
 
Posted by Pearl9100 Thursday, Dec 15, 2011 69 days ago

ROFL!!!

 
 
Posted by geek126 Friday, Dec 16, 2011 68 days ago

That is pretty huge, now the only income they will have is the 15 million from their stock options and guaranteed bonuses. How will they ever survive.

 
 
Posted by PeterRei Thursday, Dec 15, 2011 69 days ago

Wow - I'm impressed!

 
 
Posted by doug1010 Thursday, Dec 15, 2011 69 days ago

Wow really? o.o

 
 
Posted by decypher44 Thursday, Dec 15, 2011 69 days ago

Not good enough. They need to step down. Besides, they are HARDLY the first leaders to take a $1/yr paycheck

 
 
Posted by mithrazor Thursday, Dec 15, 2011 69 days ago

I could see it work. It gives them the focus/motivation to get their company back on track so they can make whatever amount of money they make.

But then again, I'm pretty sure most of their money comes from having a percentage of the company.

 
 
Posted by lovemytoys Thursday, Dec 15, 2011 69 days ago

er, reins, Adam

 
 
Posted by stubbornswiss Thursday, Dec 15, 2011 69 days ago

These guys are still playing games.

This salary reduction is only symbolic, as people in their positions 'earn' far more in expenses and bonuses.

 
 
Posted by Pearl9100 Thursday, Dec 15, 2011 69 days ago

You are right. They probably will get bigger bonuses this year and will probably make almost the same.

 
 
Posted by mss-ca Thursday, Dec 15, 2011 69 days ago

+1 because the fact the bonus will come in handy without the knowledge of share holders and the public. I hope RIM go bankrupt and a company like Google buy them or someone who owns a large portion of shares force the CEOs booted out of the company.

Even Apple CEO Mr. Jobs was kicked out of his own company once.

I love BBs and the physical keyboards. But I had enough of buying a product from a public stock market based company that has zero accountability.

 
 
Posted by bbpandy Thursday, Dec 15, 2011 69 days ago

$1 wage..that's taking a page out of Steve Job's Playbook

 
 
Posted by Pearl9100 Thursday, Dec 15, 2011 69 days ago

Exactly what I thought. Not a fan of all 3 currently.

 
 
Posted by 00stryder Thursday, Dec 15, 2011 69 days ago

I see what you did there... ;)

 
 
Posted by mtbrown19 Thursday, Dec 15, 2011 69 days ago

"lost their millionaire status"?
I know things have been bad for RIM...

 
 
Posted by q649 Thursday, Dec 15, 2011 69 days ago

billionaire , not millionaire. Jeesh!

Edit: I obviously caught the blog post-edit.

 
 
Posted by axe50 Thursday, Dec 15, 2011 69 days ago

Adam, they lost Billionaire status, not Millionaire...they still have plenty of cash :)

 
 
Posted by Adam Zeis Thursday, Dec 15, 2011 69 days ago

Fixed! So much for my speed blogging :)

 
 
Posted by Pilchard Thursday, Dec 15, 2011 69 days ago

Based on their performance they're overpaid at $1 each. Their errors are costing RIM a lot more than that. Playbook write down was hundreds of millions of dollars, for instance.

Bold 9000
Playbook 16MB

 
 
Posted by 4ron Thursday, Dec 15, 2011 69 days ago

Reduced salaries? No loss. Each is worth $1.1 billion.

 
 
Posted by jasonec Thursday, Dec 15, 2011 69 days ago

$1 is far too high for those RIMtards. They need to step down.

 
 
Posted by 19cbb Thursday, Dec 15, 2011 69 days ago

$2 dollars spent on these egotistical schmucks is too much!

 
 
Posted by pushfan Thursday, Dec 15, 2011 69 days ago

Maybe with the salary expense savings they can hire someone that can turn things around.

 
 
Posted by Xacradin Thursday, Dec 15, 2011 69 days ago

STOP MAKING SO MANY PHONE MODELS, IMPROVE WHAT UVE GOT! NOT FAIL 99xx (TOUCH, KEYPAD, SMALL SCREEN) NOT SO COMPETITIVE RIM

 
 
Posted by JWWDUKE Thursday, Dec 15, 2011 69 days ago

Honestly tho, at one dollar they are overpaid!!!!!

 
 
Posted by moshpitpal Thursday, Dec 15, 2011 69 days ago

is that in euros, pounds, or us dollars?

Kind of sad about the later BB10 phones. Oh well. Will have to rock the 9780 until tmobile stops butt gouging folks for the 9900.

 
 
Posted by berklon Thursday, Dec 15, 2011 69 days ago

If they really want to make a difference, they should just step down.

Time for new leadership.

 
 
Posted by Rgainsmi Thursday, Dec 15, 2011 69 days ago

$1 is all that is going to be left after these guys finish...they have lost the confidence of everyone...their customers, their investors, what I can only assume their staff.

Growth can only occur once constructive change is made... The leaders are failing this company. Time for new blood.

 
 
Posted by xandermac Thursday, Dec 15, 2011 69 days ago

Yeauh. And how much in stock options I wonder.

 
 
Posted by mervinking Thursday, Dec 15, 2011 69 days ago

LOL.....

 
 
Posted by siddo_d Thursday, Dec 15, 2011 69 days ago

OMG RIM is in bad times

 
 
Posted by westex74 Thursday, Dec 15, 2011 69 days ago

based on the last 36 months....they are still overpaid.

 
 
Posted by Darlaten Thursday, Dec 15, 2011 69 days ago

If anything, they should be paying RIM to allow them to still be there.

 
 
Posted by re_matters Thursday, Dec 15, 2011 69 days ago

Good move! That's a step in the right direction. Baby step and possible publicity stunt but hey, it's not like anyone here could run RIM any better. ;-)

 
 
Posted by harleyx Thursday, Dec 15, 2011 69 days ago

Gee, darn shame guys...you might have to put regular fuel in the porches....

How about doing it Lee Iacocca style...$1 per year. Thats all your leadership is worth

 
 
Posted by Hwycop Thursday, Dec 15, 2011 69 days ago

Is that Canadian Tire money or a credit on a Tim Hortons card??

 
 
Posted by Vandeleigh Thursday, Dec 15, 2011 69 days ago

omg. they are so impressive and serious. omg.

 
 
Posted by scottae316 Thursday, Dec 15, 2011 69 days ago

I hope that is total salary for both of them.

 
 
Posted by Kiddo2050 Thursday, Dec 15, 2011 69 days ago

Actually I think it's too late to get rid of them now, might as well wait for the phones to come out. if they fail then the CEOs must go. If they are a hit well then...

 
 
Posted by anthogag Thursday, Dec 15, 2011 69 days ago

Good move. It tells me they're serious and about to 'get it on'...

 
 
Posted by joehack Friday, Dec 16, 2011 69 days ago

Compared to the damage they did to RIM this is nothing. The should leave immediatly!

 
 
Posted by conker Friday, Dec 16, 2011 69 days ago

They did this just so they wouldn't be out of a job.

 
 
Posted by herrbremerhaven Friday, Dec 16, 2011 69 days ago

They have drawn a line in the sand, challenging shareholders to not vote them out. A few very large investors are in RIMM shares recently (no, not puny Jaguar) and I bet they are pissed. Time to bring in someone new to point the company in a direction. Honestly, I no longer care what direction, as long as it's not backwards like the current guiding of the coCEOs.

 
 
Posted by aloofkid Friday, Dec 16, 2011 69 days ago

Salary is just $1, but they still have bonuses and allowances. They Still get a lot of money.

 
 
Posted by RWD Friday, Dec 16, 2011 68 days ago

Shoulda just stuck a minus sign in front of whatever it was they made before. Pay for the privilege of staying on.

 
 
Posted by lawsangel Friday, Dec 16, 2011 68 days ago

I can almost guarantee that what ever they have lost in there salary will be added to there bonus, they will also benefit in the fact that there bonus will not be taxed.

Basically the rich are getting richer one way or another.

 
 
Posted by Liquid_Revolver Friday, Dec 16, 2011 68 days ago

Step down and bow to Apple and Android

 
 
Posted by olblueyez Friday, Dec 16, 2011 68 days ago

Their stock holders, they don't need salaries to make money. Its a hollow gesture.

 
 
Posted by SupaCoop Friday, Dec 16, 2011 68 days ago

They may be super wealthy, but Mike L every morning starts his day at a Tim Hortons. He shows up, buys his coffee, then sits in his Land Rover for a bit before heading out.

I guess he doesn't feel he's incredibly recognizable or something. Good to know that with all of his wealth (and some recognition/popularity) he's still capable of being on his own in public.

 
 
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