The Blackberry CEO Set to Deploy the Golden Parachute

To add insult to injury, in times of crisis, government, banks and corporations ask the ‘little’ guy to tighten his belt and make sacrifices. While normal families are finding it difficult to get by, failed executives are still having the time of their lives. In the case of Blackberry, the Canadian government has also subsidized a loan for another company to buy Blackberry’s products.

Of course the board of directors crafted this marvellous package which is available to Heins if and only if the company is sold. This creates an incentive for Heins to explore offers to sell the company. If the company is not sold and he is released he will only make a paltry $22 million. “The onus of structuring that contract was on the board,” says Sameet Kanade, an analyst at Jacobs Securities in Toronto.

Regardless, the outlook is grim for Blackberry and by extension Canadian engineering and innovation. The parachutes are burning except for that of Thorsten Heins. He’s laughing all the way down.

Image provided by ibtimes

Konstantine Roccas is an observer of local and international affairs and governance, but also writes about anything else that piques his ire. He enjoys a half kilo of Greek yogurt daily. He writes for the Arbitrage Magazine. More of his work can be found at myriadtruths.blogspot.ca and he can be followed on Twitter @KosteeRoccas.