RIM’s Heins Quickly Lodges Foot in Mouth

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If a company loses more than 70% of its value in less than a year, Wall Street usually cheers when a new CEO comes on board. But in the case of Research In Motion (NASDAQ:RIMM), things have not gone according to the playbook. The stock was down more than 6% Monday after RIM announced new leadership.

Then again, the new CEO — Thorsten Heins — seems to be a lackey of the former co-CEOs, Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis. Despite the fact that RIM is getting crushed by Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Google (NASDAQ:GOOG), Thorsten actually proclaimed, “I don’t think that there is a drastic change needed.”

Yes, it’s the kind of quote that will live in infamy. In fact, it is reminiscent of the following gems:

“I cannot imagine any condition which would cause a ship to founder. I cannot conceive of any vital disaster happening to this vessel. Modern ship building has gone beyond that.”
— Edward Smith, Captain, Titanic

“With over 50 foreign cars already on sale here, the Japanese auto industry isn’t likely to carve out a big slice of the U.S. market.”
— Business Week, Aug. 2, 1968

“This ‘telephone’ has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication. The device is inherently of no value to us.”
— Western Union, 1876

“There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home.”
— Ken Olson, CEO of Digital Equipment Corp., 1977

“Our liquidity is fine. As a matter of fact, it’s better than fine. It’s strong.”
— Kenneth Lay, Enron CEO

“I didn’t even have a lifejacket because I had given it to one of the passengers. I was trying to get them into the lifeboats in an orderly fashion. All of a sudden, the boat listed between 60 and 70 degrees. I tripped and ended up in one of the lifeboats.”
— Francesco Schettino, Captain, Costa Concordia

As of this writing, Tom Taulli did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned stocks.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books. They include Artificial Intelligence Basics and the Robotic Process Automation Handbook. His upcoming book is called Generative AI: How ChatGPT and other AI Tools Will Revolutionize Business.


Article printed from InvestorPlace Media, https://investorplace.com/2012/01/research-in-motion-ceo-thorsten-heins-rimm/.

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