BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) (TSE:BB) Chief Executive Officer Thorsten Heins will earn $55.6 million provided the company is sold, and he is removed by the new owners, according to a May proxy filing.
The amount is inclusive of salary, incentive payments and equity awards, and the calculation of this figure is based on BlackBerry’s stock price towards the end of fiscal fourth quarter. The plan was approved by shareholders at its annual meeting on July 9.
Heins is ousted without change of control
Heins will receive $22 million in salary inclusive of incentive payments and equity awards if he is ousted from BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) (TSE:BB) without change of control based on the March 28 share price. The amount Heins is entitled to will include his base salary of $3 million and about $72,000 in benefits and retirement savings. Additionally, he will also receive annual incentive payment of $2.8 million, which climbs to $4.5 million in a change-of-control scenario.
BlackBerry under Heins
Heins took up the post of CEO in January 2012 after replacing co-founders and co-CEOs Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie, both executives who were ousted from the company after shareholders insisted on management change. Heins at that time held the post of company’s chief operating officer. He started working with the company in 2007 and prior to that worked with Siemens AG for almost two decades.
When Heins was relatively new in BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) (TSE:BB) he claimed that the company didn’t need any “drastic” changes, but he did some serious overhauling of the business appointing new sales, marketing and legal chiefs, along with cutting 5,000 jobs in order to save $1 billion in operating costs. Heins also decided to shutter down ten of the company’s manufacturing plants.
BlackBerry going private
Stock of the Canadian firm gained 19 percent in the past week amid anticipation that the company will be sold off, broken up or taken private, which may earn massive gains for the investors. BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) (TSE:BB) announced plans on August 12 to form a board committee to review potential sale, joint ventures and partnerships.
Last year, Heins called JPMorgan Chase & Co (NYSE:JPM) and RBC to assist him in reviewing the strategic options of the company. At that time, Heins said that JPM and RBC were targeting probable partnership and software licensing deals. However, Heins further said that it was not the only “main direction” the company was considering. Heins stated for the first time on August 12 that it is looking into takeover offers.
