It was announced earlier today that BlackBerry will receive $1 billion in funding and that CEO Thorsten Heins will be temporarily replaced by John S. Chen while the company searches for a new and more permanent boss.
Thorsten Heins was CEO from January 2012 until November 4, 2013 but in that time he managed to make quite an impression on us. A memorable moment was his performance next to Alicia Keys as the company’s new ‘Creative Director’, weeks before she tweeted from her iPhone.
But there were many other memorable moments and quotable quotes. Here are a few ones we liked especially:
- “There is nothing wrong with the company as it exists right now.” (source)
- “In five years, I see BlackBerry to be the absolute leader in mobile computing” (source)
- “One of the issues we really need to tackle in the future is not the innovation – that will be always covered” (source)
- “In five years, I don’t think there’ll be a reason to have a tablet anymore.” (source)
- “I get more and more excited every day. I really have to make sure I stay grounded and I don’t lose my sense for reality” (source)
There you have it. Visionary statements or unfortunate-but-amusing remarks? Do you think it makes sense that BlackBerry replaced him or should it have given him longer to prove himself?
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Image credit: 719Dominic/Wikimedia Commons
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