[icedkermit]

While I love my Z10 and I know there are thousands of very hard working BlackBerry employees, the BlackBerry executives have destroyed this company and I�ve lost all confidence in their ability to effectively run this company.
If you go through the management information form (page 39), you can see that the senior executives were granted several million dollars worth of options/RSU�s on October 1, 2012 at a price of $7.86/share. This is the price they have the option of paying for each share. At a 10-12 take-out price, not a bad deal.

As referenced elsewhere on the forms, Thorstein is up for a very nice payout � north of $50 million if there is a transfer of control � page 46 & 47.

If you look at page 36, it describes, it describes the components of how bonuses are calculated. As per their calculation versus results, the BB10 launch exceeded their target. Seriously � who came up with this and how low was their target. I�m all for executives getting paid very well when they create value, but come on. Shareholders have suffered, thousands of employees have lost their jobs and these guys are paying themselves like crazy.

Until the executives and board change, I�m done. Oh, and I�m definitely going to be at the AGM next year. I�m tired of all the softball questions the Board gets. I just hope the company lasts long enough...

[Kris Simundson]

So in other words your jealous they got cushy jobs and make lots of money no matter what?

[anon5759238]

So in other words your jealous they got cushy jobs and make lots of money no matter what?

Oh Snap!

Swordsmanship Channel: C000C9AF6

[icedkermit]

Kris - Nice cheeky response - you clearly didn't read what I wrote.

I have no issues with executives getting paid very well when they're creating value. In BlackBerry's case, you've had constant under performance for the past 3 or 4 years. Thousands of employees have lost their jobs and they issue themselves options exercisable at the lowest price point of the stock. This is offensive. They have no business paying themselves this way. We should all be offended by the fact that in their eyes, the BB10 launch went better than expected. It was a disaster. Sales are a flop. If you look at their financials, the only reason cash has gone up is because they've played with their working capital. They're taking longer to pay their bills, they're spending less on inventory and trying to collect their cash receivables quicker. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad they did it, but don't try to convince us that it's going to continue. It's not. It's something that they can only do once.

[Skatophilia]

awww shiiiii's going down

[mset]

So in other words your jealous they got cushy jobs and make lots of money no matter what?

Gotta be honest, Kris. I didn't get that vibe from the OP and I totally agree with what he's saying. I have no problem with executive compensation commensurate with performance and if you can make tens or hundreds of millions for your investors/company owners, you should get millions as compensation. If TH gets a $50MM buyout on a takeover, it's going to be a travesty. So far, he and the other senior execs have failed. Period. Would their strat have worked if given another 8 quarters? I doubt it, and we may never know.

OP is just pointing out what many people think. I am on record as being a huge BBRY fan who has been underwhelmed by events out of KW since January.

[z10fido]

I knew it would be a day of shock when the diehard bbry fans realize that this after all a corporation which concerns itself with its own top brass. Not consumers or casual stock holders.

Posted via CB10

[Kris Simundson]

I read something that the OP is done with BlackBerry until execs change, well doesn't matter who the execs are, they'll be sitting on cushy paying jobs. It won't change how they feel. I have generals that make stupid rules and policies, and make way more money than me, it's not a reason I'll walk out the army.

Posted via CB10

[BBThemes]

I read something that the OP is done with BlackBerry until execs change, well doesn't matter who the execs are, they'll be sitting on cushy paying jobs. It won't change how they feel. I have generals that make stupid rules and policies, and make way more money than me, it's not a reason I'll walk out the army.

Posted via CB10

true, but you wouldn't be best pleased if that general was given a medal for simply getting up and driving to work in the morning. which is basically what happened. `BB10 launch a success` with an average of under 1m devices shipped per month in the first 4 months of product launch is terrible by any standards.

that's with all the `carrier support` Thorsten said they would have. so that's 3.7m shipped devices in 4 months.
how did the iphone 5 fare? don't know over 4 months, but in its first weekend it did over 5 million.
how did the SGS4 do? about 10m in the first month.

I know this is where people will say its not established, its a new platform etc etc, but seriously, you cant call it a successful launch if in 4 months you cant even beat one weekend of iphone sales.

[Skatophilia]

I wouldn't mind having a go as CEO for BB. That'd be the greatest job ever!

I wonder if Thor ever gives his crew a couple physics questions to do

[greggebhardt]

You are just now figuring out?

I got the idea when TH lied to the stock holders before the last ER, telling us how great the sales were going!

It cost me over $30,000!

[qcbarry25]

wait, how is he ripping us off again? he took your money? or sold you a more expensive product that you can buy it for cheaper somewhere else?

maybe you should edit your title

[mset]

wait, how is he ripping us off again? he took your money? or sold you a more expensive product that you can buy it for cheaper somewhere else?

by 'us' he means shareholders, i.e. owners of the company.

[Kris Simundson]

by 'us' he means shareholders, i.e. owners of the company.

And it was your choice to buy these stocks, no one held a gun to your head forcing you to buy BlackBerry stocks. If you play that game and expect to always come out profitable is a joke.

So all you shareholders, are going to hold one man responsible for your own actions?

[kwm1337]

So all you shareholders, are going to hold one man responsible for your own actions?

In theory they could, but I think the reason why their mad is because they represent less than 0.00000000000000001% of the common shares outstanding and knowing that they still bought stock, and their voice doesn't matter... Don't trade with your hearts people, it'll either make you a f-ton or it will cause you to lose everything...

[BergerKing]

Thread has been relocated.

[mset]

And it was your choice to buy these stocks, no one held a gun to your head forcing you to buy BlackBerry stocks. If you play that game and expect to always come out profitable is a joke.

So all you shareholders, are going to hold one man responsible for your own actions?

I played the stock from the short side, so I assume this post is directed at someone other than me. I was just pointing out what the guy meant by 'us'.

Also, the OP wasn't complaining about the stock price. He was complaining about the executive compensation and the exercise of stock options.

[icedkermit]

And it was your choice to buy these stocks, no one held a gun to your head forcing you to buy BlackBerry stocks. If you play that game and expect to always come out profitable is a joke.

So all you shareholders, are going to hold one man responsible for your own actions?

Kris, you need to learn to read better, especially if you're going to be a moderator - a term that must be used loosely here.

I referenced the fact that I'm done with BlackBerry until the Board and the executives are changed. As a longtime shareholder of BlackBerry and general investor, I'm well aware of the risks involved. That's not what bothers me. Again, read my initial comment. What bothers me is the blatant, almost care free way in which they are compensating themselves while the investors, the people who own the company are suffering. Not to mention the several thousand people who have lost their jobs. Imagine you owned 100% of BlackBerry - would you have agreed to compensate the executives this way? It's the same thing as a shareholder. It's the Board's job to manage this. They're supposed to be working for the shareholders, not the executives. The fact that they've done as I reference above, undermines their credibility. If you don't understand this, that's fine, but don't leave ignorant comments.

[qcbarry25]

Kris, you need to learn to read better, especially if you're going to be a moderator - a term that must be used loosely here.

I referenced the fact that I'm done with BlackBerry until the Board and the executives are changed. As a longtime shareholder of BlackBerry and general investor, I'm well aware of the risks involved. That's not what bothers me. Again, read my initial comment. What bothers me is the blatant, almost care free way in which they are compensating themselves while the investors, the people who own the company are suffering. Not to mention the several thousand people who have lost their jobs. Imagine you owned 100% of BlackBerry - would you have agreed to compensate the executives this way? It's the same thing as a shareholder. It's the Board's job to manage this. They're supposed to be working for the shareholders, not the executives. The fact that they've done as I reference above, undermines their credibility. If you don't understand this, that's fine, but don't leave ignorant comments.

you still didn't explain how he ripped us off. shareholder or not. whatever you said so far anywhere in this thread does not defined being "rip off".
the title should more be like he doesn't deserve the 53m. there were no correlations between incentive he received and any of us getting ripped off.

[icedkermit]

you still didn't explain how he ripped us off. shareholder or not. whatever you said so far anywhere in this thread does not defined being "rip off".

A company is structured as such. Shareholders own the company, but because there are lots of shareholders, they need an efficient way to monitor the company, so they vote for people to represent them on what's called a Board of Directors. The Board is supposed to work and has a fiduciary duty to do what's best for shareholders. BlackBerry's Board responsibilities can be found on B-1 of their Fiscal 2013 Management Information Form. Essentially though, the Board is responsible for hiring and monitoring the CEO's performance and the compensation of all executives. Board's however are known to not always work for the best interests of their shareholders and grant, as they did in this case, egregious compensation packages.

The Board determined the various items BlackBerry executives would be compensated against - one of which was the launch of BB10 - They scored the executives as "above target". They also issued executives several million dollars worth of options. Normally this is a good thing. It incentivizes executives to perform well. They benefit, shareholders benefit. The fact that they did so at a strike price basically at the low of the stock, means that investors are being diluted. They're benefiting while I'm suffering - there's a disconnect there that shouldn't be.They can sell the entire company at $10/share and make a huge profit, while long-term shareholders still lose. Our interests should be aligned. What the Board has done is the opposite - ergo, they're ripping us off. Benefiting while shareholders, the owners of the company, are suffering.

[mset]

you still didn't explain how he ripped us off. shareholder or not. whatever you said so far anywhere in this thread does not defined being "rip off".
the title should more be like he doesn't deserve the 53m. there were no correlations between incentive he received and any of us getting ripped off.

You don't understand how a shareholder would feel ripped off if a CEO who failed in his job gets $50MM on the way out the door? Who do you think owns that $50MM?? It's shareholder money!

[icedkermit]

You don't understand how a shareholder would feel ripped off if a CEO who failed in his job takes $50MM gets $50MM on the way out the door? Who do you think owns that $50MM?? It's shareholder money!

This is what's scary about the stock market - people like this invest and have no clue. It's astonishing...

[RJB55]

As I see it there are two unfortunate issues at play here. One is that executives make a financial deal when they sign on with any large company and these are usually comprised of salary, bonuses, perks, etc. If he's far enough up the food chain, CEO as an example, he can also negotiate compensation should he resign or be fired. The money is usually going be a little different under either circumstance, if he walks he gets one amount if he's canned he gets another. Anyway, you can blame the Board for whatever deal was made with TH so if you really want to complain, and are a shareholder, you may want to bring your concerns to their attention.

The second issue is my pet peeve where the law does not allow for the jailing of executives, and politicians, for gross incompetence or misleading their customers (constituents in the case of lying politicians) but that's a different, though related, discussion.
.

[qcbarry25]

You don't understand how a shareholder would feel ripped off if a CEO who failed in his job gets $50MM on the way out the door? Who do you think owns that $50MM?? It's shareholder money!

those are stock option. you think those are cash? how are those the stock holder money? you made it seems like he took 50m out of the BB bank and paid him and every share holder have to contribute to it. those are reserved stock that are granted once its vested and hit the strike. how do stock holder lose money again? the only one gaining is Thors, but it does not affect the individual stock holder at all.

[qcbarry25]

This is what's scary about the stock market - people like this invest and have no clue. It's astonishing...

read the reply i just gave to the other guy. yea, it is scary when invest in stock and have no idea what theyre talking about and make a thread about it.

once again, that is not called ripping off. he just suck at his job

if you are the employer and your employee worked 80 hours a week but he came out with some failed product, is he ripping you off?