Jim Balsillie www.smh.com.au
Balsillie arrived at Research In Motion (RIM), re-branded as BlackBerry last month, in 1992 and made a personal investment of US$125,000, which many reports believe at the time saved RIM, keeping the Canadian company afloat.
There has been a mixed response from analysts with some seeing it as a lack of confidence in BlackBerry's new BB10 smartphones, whilst others see it as him standing to lose out with the new devices set to play a major role in the revival of the company’s fortunes.
Balsillie and co-chief executive and co-chairman Mike Lazaridis stepped down from their positions in January 2012 when the company's stock price declined.
Although Lazaridis remained as vice chairman on the board, Balsillie resigned as director in March of the same year.
