Blackberry replaces three key management figures

In the wake of  Blackberry CEO Thorsten Heins’ departure following a $1bn investment in the company by Fairfax Financial Holdings, the Canadian handset manufacturer announced the departure of three more key management figures.

Chief operating officer Kristian Tear and chief marketing officer Frank Boulben will leave BlackBerry, the company confirmed. In addition, chief financial officer Brian Bidulka will be replaced by James Yersh who has worked at BlackBerry since 2008 and previously served as senior VP, controller and as the company’s head of compliance. Bidulka will stay on as a special advisor to the CEO for the remainder of the fiscal year to assist with the transition.

“I look forward to working more directly with the talented teams of engineers, and the sales and marketing teams around the world to facilitate the BlackBerry turn-around and to drive innovation,” said John Chen, executive chair and interim CEO of BlackBerry.

“BlackBerry has a strong cash position and continues, by a significant margin, to be the top provider of trusted and secure mobile device management solutions to enterprise customers around the world. Building on this core strength, and in conjunction with these management changes, I will continue to align my senior management team and organizational structure, and refine the company’s strategy to ensure we deliver the best devices, mobile security and device management through BES 10, provide multi-platform messaging solutions with BBM, and expand adoption of QNX embedded systems.”

BlackBerry also announced that Roger Martin, a Board member since 2007, has also resigned from his position.