Mike Lazaridis

Mihal (Mike) Lazaridis, entrepreneur, business executive, philanthropist (born 1961 at Istanbul, Turkey). Mike Lazaridis came to Canada with his Greek parents at age 5 and was raised in Windsor, Ont. He studied electrical engineering at the University of Waterloo, where in 1984 he formed RESEARCH IN MOTION (RIM), the wireless technology firm that revolutionized the communications industry with the development of the BlackBerry.

Lazaridis loved science as a child and was always fascinated by how things worked. He and his friends spent countless hours in their basements, building rockets, radios and many other things with a scientific underpinning. At the age of 12 he won an award for reading every science book in the Windsor Public Library. In high school Lazaridis took science courses to be eligible for university but also enrolled in shop courses that allowed him to tinker.

Research in Motion
In 1979, with profits from a re-designed buzzer for the popular game REACH FOR THE TOP, he enrolled at the University of Waterloo in 1979. Doug Fregin, Lazaridis's close friend since childhood, was a fellow student. They founded RIM, which was established as an electronics and computer science consulting business that later would focus on developing technology for the wireless transmission of data, such as email and text messages, and establishing wireless point-of-sale customer terminals. They were soon joined by fellow student Michael Barnstijn. In 1986, while the young men were still students, RIM was awarded a $600 000 contract by General Motors.

In 1992 Mike Lazaridis was joined by Jim BALSILLIE as co-CEO. The blending of Lazaridis's technical vision and Balsillie's business acumen saw RIM expand from a small company with fewer than 10 employees in 1992 to an international corporation worth in excess of $68 billion at the end of 2007. The industry was moving forward, led by Apple and the iPhone it introduced that year. RIM continued to grow, reaching nearly $20 billion in sales during fiscal 2011, but it did not develop any compelling new products and was reluctant to incorporate new trends, such as a camera or MP3 player in its smartphone.

RIM's growth began to slow and new consumers in emerging markets were purchasing lower-end devices. By the end of 2011, close to 60% of RIM's sales came from countries other than Canada, the US and the UK, where iPhones and Android phones had become more popular. Complicating RIM's changing market was a major service disruption in October 2011, the fifth in five years. Despite the announcement of a new line of "superphones" to come in 2012, RIM suffered a drop in its stock prices of nearly 55% in the preceding year. Shareholders called for change, particularly in the company's leadership.

After months of pressure, the executive shakeup was announced publicly on 22 January 2012. Balsillie and Lazaridis were replaced as co-CEOs by chief operating officer Thorsten Heins and their shared role as board chairman was assumed by Barbara Stymiest. Lazaridis assumed the new title of vice-chair of the board and chair of the board's new innovation committee and Balsillie stayed on as a member of the board of directors.

Philanthropy
RIM's success has allowed Lazaridis and his wife, Ophelia, to provide generous support to their community and the country. The couple's philanthropy has included a donation that established the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, a donation to the University of Waterloo in 2004 to help establish the Institute for Quantum Computing and an additional donation to the University of Waterloo in 2005, primarily to aid the construction of a new building jointly shared by the Institute for Quantum Computing and the Nanotechnology Engineering program.

Mike Lazaridis is an ardent advocate for higher education and scientific research. He is a member of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), the Ontario Research and Innovation Council, a governor of the Information Technology Association of Canada and a member of the board of governors of the University of Waterloo. In May 2003 he was installed as the university's chancellor and re-appointed to that position in 2006.

Honours and Awards
Since founding RIM, Lazaridis has registered 38 patents and been awarded dozens of awards for his innovations in wireless technology and software and for his philanthropy. Among his awards is a 1999 Academy Award for RIM's role in inventing a digital-barcode reader for film editing. He was awarded honorary doctorates by the University of Waterloo in 2000 and McMaster University in 2005. In 2002 Lazaridis and RIM colleague Gary Mousseau shared Canada's most prestigious innovation prize, The Ernest C. Manning Principal Award. Also in 2002 Mike Lazaridis was named Canada's Nation Builder of the Year by readers of the Globe and Mail. He was listed on the TIME 100 List of Most Influential People in 2005 and named an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2006.

Author LAURA NEILSON and SASHA YUSUFALI

Links to Other Sites
Waterloo
The official website for the City of Waterloo, Ontario

Research In Motion
The website for the mobile telecommunications company Research In Motion, home of the iconic Blackberry phone. Click on the "Company" link at the top of the page for current corporate information.

Centre for International Governance Innovation
The website for the Centre for International Governance Innovation, an international think tank that focuses on international governance issues.

Michael Lazaridis
A biography of the former Co-CEO of the company Research In Motion. From the Canadian Business Hall of Fame.

Research in Motion
Check this site for the latest news and older stories about the technology company Research in Motion. From The Globe and Mail.