BlackBerry Ltd. says chief executive and executive chairman John Chen will retire from the company next week. Chen takes part in an event at BlackBerry QNX Headquarters in Ottawa, Friday, Feb 15, 2019. CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick
WATERLOO, Bahamas – BlackBerry Ltd. says CEO and executive chairman John Chen will retire from the company at the end of this week.
The Waterloo, Ont.-based technology firm says Chen will depart on Nov. 4 and his roles will taken up by Richard (Dick) Lynch, while BlackBerry completes its search for a permanent chief executive.
Chen joined BlackBerry in November 2013 with a mission to restructure the company from a smartphone maker into a cybersecurity software and services firm.
In recent months, he was working on dividing BlackBerry’s cybersecurity operations from its internet of things business, which he planned to take public.
The company also told shareholders it was exploring a range of strategic alternatives to enhance the value they derive from the business, which lost US$42 million in the second quarter of its 2024 fiscal year.
Prior to joining BlackBerry, Chen was an electrical engineer who served as CEO of Sybase, a California-based enterprise software company.
“It has been an honour to lead and transform this iconic company over the past decade,” Chen said in a news release announcing his departure.
“I’m proud to have been able to establish BlackBerry’s vision of a trusted, software-defined world and to position the company to unlock value through the separation of our core business units into two separate operating companies.”
Leading up to the end of the trading day, BlackBerry shares jumped to close higher by 30 cents or roughly six per cent at $5.02.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 30, 2023.
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