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Founder Mike Lazaridis to leave Blackberry May 1st as vice-chairman and director
On the heels of today's earnings release, Blackberry vice chairman Mike Lazaridis announced that he'll leave the company on May 1st. The exec founded the company formerly known as Research in Motion almost 30 years ago, with Jim Balsillie as its early CEO -- who resigned this time last year himself and recently sold off his remaining shares. Lazaridis said that he'll focus instead on his new Quantum Valley Investments venture, which recently backed a research center in his home town of Waterloo, Ontario.
ST-Ericsson CEO steps down without a named successor
ST-Ericsson was already in some tumult after the ST half of the partnership said it was exiting the venture late last year. As we're discovering, there was a little more drama in store for 2013. CEO Didier Lamouche has resigned from the company for a tempting job prospect elsewhere, and there's no named replacement for him so far -- a slight problem when Lamouche will be out by March 31st. He's leaving ST-Ericsson in a better state than he found it, as the company is scoring key deals for phones like the Galaxy S III Mini while getting its LTE chip plans on track. Nonetheless, we suspect that remaining owner Ericsson will want that power vacuum filled quickly when there's already enough uncertainty ahead.
Hulu CEO Jason Kilar announces resignation, will leave company in Q1
Some big news out of Hulu late this afternoon: CEO Jason Kilar has just announced that he will be leaving the company sometime in the first quarter of this year. The news was first reported by Bloomberg News and followed quickly by a blog post from Kilar himself containing the email he sent to his staff. In it, Kilar says that he is now working with the company's board to manage the transition, and also confirms that Senior Vice President and CTO Richard Tom will be leaving along with him. He didn't exactly delve into the reasons for his resignation, though, saying only that the decision has been "one of the toughest I've ever made," and adding that he'll keep the team updated as "dates and other items get solidified."
Nokia imaging head Damian Dinning makes 'personal decision' to leave the company
Nokia's cameras and imaging systems have garnered the company plenty of attention in recent years, but it looks like it's now facing something of a turning point in that area. As Amateur Photographer reports, the man responsible for leading that charge, Damian Dinning, has announced that he's leaving the company effective November 30th. According to a statement released by Nokia UK, that move is a "personal decision" Dinning made following the company's decision to relocate a number of key strategic roles to Finland. As for what's next for Dinning, he rather cryptically tweeted just two days ago that he's "incredibly excited about the 10th Dec," adding that he "can't say more than that right now other than to say it's nothing to do with Nokia directly." There's also no word yet from Nokia on who will take over his role.
AMD CFO Thomas Seifert calls it quits, Devinder Kumar takes his place on an interim basis
Advanced Micro Devices' Senior VP and Chief Financial Officer, Thomas Seifert, has decided to leave AMD three short years after joining the company. As you may recall, Seifert briefly took the reigns of AMD as interim CEO in early 2011, until the firm found a permanent replacement in Rory Read later that year. No word on why Seifert has decided to depart the chip maker -- other than "to pursue other opportunities" -- but we do know that Devinder Kumar, AMD's current Senior VP and corporate controller will replace him on an interim basis. The full announcement awaits in the PR after the break.
Zynga COO John Schappert resigns
Zynga's chief operations officer John Schappert has resigned, according to Fortune. This announcement comes just barely one week after Schappert's responsibilities at the developer were revised to no longer include the oversight of game development. Schappert's departure is effective immediately."John has made significant contributions to the games industry throughout his career and we appreciate all that he has done for Zynga," CEO Mark Pincus told Fortune. "John leaves as a friend of the company and we wish him all the best."Prior to working at Zynga, Schappert served as Corporate Vice President of Live at Microsoft, as well as COO of Electronic Arts -- a company that happens to be suing Zynga as we speak.
Key MeeGo team members leave Nokia, N9 owners swipe away a few tears
This week will be remembered as a volatile one if you're a MeeGo fan. Just hours after Nokia posted the PR 1.3 update for N9 owners, the company's MeeGo development lead Sotiris Makyrgiannis and other team members have confirmed that they're leaving for greener pastures. The split appears to be an amicable one, with the crew largely going to CloudBerryTec to write mobile apps (including for MeeGo) and consult on software even as they share fond memories. What's left is a lot of doubt over the fate of the swipe-driven OS itself. Nokia promised years of support for the OS as a side project following the big leap to Windows Phone, but it also hadn't mentioned the possibility of important staff departures, either. We've reached out to the company for a fuller answer -- if it turns out that MeeGo development is winding down, the staff shift could be the end to completely in-house OS creation at a company that was once defined by its custom platforms.
T-Mobile US CEO Philipp Humm resigns, Jim Alling takes over as interim CEO
Philipp Humm, the CEO of T-Mobile US, has resigned, according to a report from All Things D. While no official reason has been given, an official statement given to the publication tells us that Humm is heading back to Europe to be with his family and will look for a career outside of Deutsche Telekom. We're still waiting to receive the full statement from T-Mobile, and will update this post as we get more information. Update: We just received the official press release, which you can peruse below. Jim Alling, COO of T-Mobile US, will be the new interim CEO while a search for Humm's replacement is underway.
THQ vice president steps down
THQ vice president, corporate controller and chief accounting officer Teri Manby officially resigned on June 14, but is scheduled to remain at the company until July 6 to help with the transition, an SEC filing reveals.Rose Cunningham, current senior director of financial reporting, has been promoted to vice president, corporate controller, and chief financial officer Paul Pucino will take over as chief accounting officer.Among its ongoing financial troubles, THQ yesterday announced it would cancel a standalone expansion for Saints Row: The Third, a move expected to cost the company $20 million in revenue for its fiscal year.
RIM's global sales head departs after 14-year stretch
Research in Motion's head of global sales is leaving the company after serving the BlackBerry maker for 14 years. Patrick Spence joined the company before it had even produced its first smartphone before rising to his current position, based in London. Reuters hints that he was dissatisfied about being passed over for the vacant COO's position, due to be filled by former Sony Ericsson man Kristian Tear later this year. A spokesperson for the Canadian company said that Mr. Spence would be moving to a leadership role in another industry. [Image Credit: Globe and Mail]
Best Buy founder / chairman steps down after investigation
Yet more fallout in the case of Best Buy CEO Brian Dunn's sudden resignation last month. Some more light has been shed on those aforementioned "certain issues" we heard about, and now an internal investigation has led to the exit of the big box retailer's founder Richard Schulze as chairman of the board. Schulze will be replaced by Hatim Tyabji, who has served as the CEO of Bytemobile and as chairman of the Best Buy's audit committee. The transfer will occur after the company's annual meeting on June 21, 2012. Tyabji had the following to say about Schulze's tenure with the company, Dick's leadership and vision changed the landscape of American retail, and he will forever be remembered as an iconic entrepreneur. We join Best Buy's 167,000 employees in thanking him. More details on Schulze's exit can be found in an official Best Buy statement after the break.
T-Mobile USA's chief marketing officer, Cole Brodman, calls it quits
Maybe he's finished running with the underdog, or maybe he's just done with the corporate gig altogether, but one thing is certain: as of May 25th, Cole Brodman will mark his exit from T-Mobile. For the past two years, Mr. Brodman has served as the carrier's chief marketing officer, and his departure concludes 17 years with the company. During his tenure, Cole Brodman railed against the subsidized handset game, helped drive the adoption of smartphones and -- sadly -- crushed our dreams for the potential of a Magenta-branded iPhone. He must also claim at least partial responsibility for the carrier's net loss of customers in 2011, with a total of 802,000 subscribers jumping ship in Q4 alone. One thing is certain of Mr. Brodman's exit, however: he seems content with the decision. Likening the move to a retirement, he remarked, "It's an opportunity to step away, get a break and start to think about how I want to do something next." Andrew Sherrard will replace Cole Brodman as T-Mobile's interim chief marketing officer while the company searches for a permanent replacement. So long, Mr. Brodman, and thanks for the smartphones. [Cole Brodman photo via CNET]
Best Buy CEO Brian Dunn unexpectedly resigns, Mike Mikan takes over
From humble beginnings as a sales associate in 1985 with no college education Brian Dunn climbed the corporate ladder at Best Buy, eventually finding himself at the top of the food chain in 2009 when he took over as CEO. Unfortunately, for this rags-to-riches poster-boy, his reign has come to an end. Dunn and BBY announced today that the long-time employee will be stepping down from his position as chief executive and will be replaced in the interim by board member Mike Mikan. The big box retailer said in a statement that the agreement was mutual and the decision had nothing to do with any disagreements with Dunn regarding "operations, financial controls, policies or procedures." However, with the company struggling so mightily, it's hard to believe that rash of store closings and poor fiscal performance are unrelated to the decision that it's "time for new leadership." Full PR after the break.Update: According to the Wall Street Journal, the company has stated his resignation took place during an investigation into "certain issues" with Dunn's personal conduct.
TiVo co-founder, CTO Jim Barton resigns
Co-founder of TiVo and CTO Jim Barton has long outlasted our deathwatch, but his time as an executive at the DVR maker quietly came to an end this week according to documents filed with the SEC. CEO Tom Rogers thanked Jim for his "commitment to innovation" in a statement, and the filing indicates he will stick around as a $25,000 per month consultant in "patent matters and litigation" among other things -- nice work if you can get it -- until March 15, 2015, but his reason for stepping down is unspecified. As Multichannel News notes, Barton was working with fellow co-founder Mike Ramsay (who left in 2007) at Silicon Graphics on a project for Time Warner when they had the idea for the DVR and eventually founded TiVo in 1997. That early movement may not have resulted in dominance over pay-Tv provided DVRs, but some favorable legal settlements and successful partnerships like its deal with Virgin Media mean he's leaving the company with its prospects looking a bit better than they did back in the dark days of '05.[Thanks, David]
Peter Molyneux leaves Lionhead and Microsoft to found 22 Cans
Peter Molyneux will leave Microsoft Game / Lionhead Studios once he's finished developing Fable: The Journey for Kinect. He'll be replaced by co-founder Mark Webley at the studio, with Redmond yet to name his successor at corporate level. Molyneux will partner with (Lionhead's) former CTO Tim Rance and Director Peter Murphy on 22 Cans, developing games under their own flag as he did when founding Lionhead and Bullfrog before that. The new company is based in Farnborough, 12 miles west of Lionhead's Guildford location and was registered on February 20th of this year. Given our childhood love of both Bullfrog and Lionhead's games, we wish both parties the very best -- you can check out when he visited The Engadget Show here.
EA CFO Eric Brown resigns to head up telecommunications company
Electronic Arts Chief Financial Officer Eric Brown has unexpectedly left the company to join Polycom. Brown will take the role of both CFO and COO at the communications company."I am delighted to join Polycom at such an exciting time," said Brown, in a read-between-the-lines press release issued by his new employer. "With Polycom's software strategy, open platform approach, broad ecosystem of partners, and strong brand loyalty among its huge installed base, I believe the company is ideally poised to capitalize on this new model."This ends Brown's second tour of duty at EA. He returned as CFO in 2008 after having previously left as Chief Operating Officer of EA's Redwood Shores Studio. CFO, COO... it appears Brown will continue his quest for that elusive vowel to become a CEO.With Brown exiting, EA announced other changes to its executive team, including Mark Tonneson as SVP and Chief Information Officer. EA has "begun a search for a new CFO," with Ken Barker serving in the interim.
Canon announces middling Q4 2011 earnings report, president steps down
In the wake of a relatively strong Q3, Canon today unveiled a slightly less rosy earnings report for the fourth quarter of 2011. Net sales for the quarter reached ¥964.8 billion (about $12.6 billion), up from the ¥916 billion the company reported last quarter, but down about 9.7 percent from Q4 2010. Quarterly operating profit, meanwhile, rose 14.2 percent on the year, to ¥94.6 billion ($1.2 billion). Profit for the full fiscal year, however, declined by 2.4 percent to ¥378.1 billion (approximately $4.9 billion), compared with the ¥387.6 billion ($5.1 billion) Canon raked in for all of 2010. Net income, on the other hand, rose by nearly 14 percent over Q4 2010 (¥61.4 billion from ¥54 billion), but only 0.8 percent over the full fiscal year (¥248.6 billion in FY 2011, ¥246.6 billion in FY 2010). Looking forward to 2012, the cameramaker expects net income to increase to ¥250 billion, which would mark the second straight year of less than one percent growth. This forecast is lower than what many analysts expected, though Canon based its projections on assumptions that the yen will continue to rise against both the dollar and the euro, making Japanese exports more expensive in Western markets. It was against this backdrop of disappointment that company president and COO Tsuneji Uchida announced his resignation today, effective March 29th. The 70-year-old Uchida will be replaced by 76-year-old chairman Fujio Mitarai, with Uchida slipping into an advisory role. Coming off a year that saw a devastating tsunami in Japan and supply chain disruptions in flood-ravaged Thailand, Canon underscored its cautious outlook for 2012, in a statement: "The future remains increasingly uncertain amid growing concern over a global economic slowdown." Find Canon's full report at the source link, below.
Head of Pipeworks steps down after allegations prove true
In light of last week's report that Deadliest Warrior studio head Robert Daly had misrepresented his military experience, Daly has resigned as head of Pipeworks Software. In a statement issued this afternoon, Daly expressed regret at having "misrepresented my role by creating the impression that I was a 'Green Beret.'" He further added that he has "nothing but the utmost respect for the Green Berets and my fellow servicemen." Daly also won't be appearing on future episodes of Deadliest Warrior, the Spike television show. "At this point in time for the best interests of Pipeworks Software and F9E [Foundation 9 Entertainment] I am voluntarily resigning my position of Studio Head of Pipeworks effective immediately," he said. "Furthermore, I have no plans on appearing in any more episodes of Deadliest Warrior."
Survey shows Steve Jobs' absence not deterring Apple's customers
A ChangeWave survey suggests Steve Jobs' resignation as CEO of Apple will have little impact on the future sales of Apple hardware. Between September 6 and 12, ChangeWave surveyed 2,297 respondents and found that only 4% of people would be less likely to buy Apple products now that Jobs is gone. 89% said Jobs' resignation will have little to no effect on their future purchasing decisions. These results are not surprising at this point.The iPhone and iPad are market leaders and the rest of Apple's product lineup is robust. And it's not like Jobs has completely left the company, he is still actively involved in Apple as Chairman of the Board. It's a change for Apple, but not the end of Apple. As Jobs wrote in his resignation letter, "Apple's brightest and most innovative days are ahead of it." [Via CNet]
Steve Jobs' Apple: a timeline
Let there be no question: ours would be a very different industry, were it not for Steve Jobs. Few, if any individuals have had so profound an effect on their given spaces; a unprecedented track record that began in 1976 with the co-founding of Apple. In earliest incarnation, the company would prove the driving force of the personal computer explosion of the early '80s, beginning with the Apple II -- one of the industry's first hugely popular microcomputers. The Macintosh shook things up yet again, a launch celebrated by the debut of the "1984" ad during that year's Superbowl. That line helped break both the graphical user interface and the mouse to a massive audience. Soon after, Jobs would resign, going on to form NeXT. The company never managed sales figures anywhere near the previous endeavor, but its products would prove highly influential, forming, among other things, the basis of Apple's paradigm-shifting OS X operating system. While Steve Jobs was focused on NeXT and The Graphic Group -- the company that would later morph into the far more familiar Pixar -- Apple suffered a series of defeats. %Gallery-131626%
