There has been a lot of talk recently about BlackBerry’s future. The company is clearly struggling in the global smartphone market. Its new platform and devices have failed to make much of an impact. There’s a possibility that the company might be sold. BlackBerry’s board recently announced the formation of a new special committee that is looking in to “strategic alternatives.” These alternatives include a sale of the company or partnerships and alliances, among other options. As per the company’s last proxy filing with the SEC, if BlackBerry CEO Thorsten Heins is ousted after the company is sold, his severance would roughly be around $55 million.
This proxy filing was made in May and the plan was approved by shareholders at BlackBerry’s annual general meeting on July 9th. This severance package includes salary, incentive payments and equity awards based on the company’s stock price at the end of the fourth fiscal quarter. Jacob Securities analyst Sameet Kanade believes that BlackBerry’s board shouldn’t have structured such a package that would give so much money to the CEO if he were to sell the company, adding that the “board should be looking out for shareholders.” Even if BlackBerry is looking to sell, there haven’t been any reports of interest from rival companies. A former Palm executive believes acquiring BlackBerry is a bad idea. Some analysts are of the view that the company will be sold in parts, its extensive patent portfolio is expected to net as much as $5 billion.
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