Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie, the co-CEO bro team who oversaw the implosion of RIM and the complete descent into irrelevance of the BlackBerry, aren't shedding any tears right now. Why? Despite career failure, they got a luxury parting package.
The Wall Street Journal reports the golden parachute studded with rubies was disclosed in RIM's latest filing with the SEC—and boy, it's pretty disgusting. As the WSJ points out, RIM was worth a staggering 16 times what it's worth today, five years ago. Who was in charge during those five years, when the company plugged its ears against the inexorable trend of the iPhone and churned out crappy handsets? Mike and Jim. So what are they getting for their years of disservice? Plenty of money that could've been spent on hiring some talent to save the whole ship:
Balsillie was given a payout of $7.93 million for the current fiscal year, which includes salary, bonus and a severance package valued at about $4.8 million. Lazaridis received $3.96 million in salary and awards, as well as a 10-year extension on health coverage for himself and his family, and a company car and driver.
In other words, enough money to last them several lifetimes over without ever having to work again, in exchange for having done terrible work. And should they ever want to visit any of the employees laid off or surely waiting to be laid off in the near future, they can just take Mike's permanent private car service. The Canadian Dream. [WSJ]