BlackBerry chief hires more former colleagues
BlackBerry hired three more senior executives this week who previously worked with its new chief executive, bolstering a team charged with putting the stumbling smartphone maker back in stride.
BlackBerry hired three more senior executives this week who previously worked with its new chief executive, bolstering a team charged with putting the stumbling smartphone maker back in stride.
They are part of a growing cadre of familiar talent tapped by John Chen since he joined BlackBerry as chief executive last month.
Chen built his reputation as a turnaround specialist at Sybase, a database and mobile software company that was eventually acquired by German software firm SAP. After the deal Chen served as president of SAP's mobile services business to help with the target company's integration.
BlackBerry said on Wednesday that James Mackey would take charge of acquisitions as executive vice-president for corporate development and strategic planning, while Mark Wilson was named senior vice-president of marketing.
We have developed close and trusted relationships with each other
Mackey had previously headed corporate development at SAP, where he led more than 40 acquisitions, before joining OpenText, a neighbour of Ontario-based BlackBerry, last year. Wilson joined Avaya as chief marketing officer last year, after working for many years at Sybase.