Prem Watsa on the Board of RIM

[Dapper37]

Some of the biggest news today is not getting discussed, Prem Watsa founder and CEO of Fairfax Financial has been appointed to the board of directors at RIM. Prem never likes to take a board seat on the companies that he invests in but he likes what he sees at RIM.
Wall street might not talk about Prem Watsa all that much but that just the way he likes it. Prem probably made more money than anyone, watching the wall street inflicted housing crash in the US happen. He cashed in on Billions from it.
So if engadget or Bloomberg don't like the changes at RIM, I'm just as happy today to have the backing of a thinker like Prem Watsa!

Quote: The catalyst for change appears to have been the entry of a new personality: reserved but revered investor Prem Watsa, CEO of Fairfax Financial. Mr. Watsa, who has been called Canada’s Warren Buffett for his business acumen, has been quietly buying RIM stock for some time. Fairfax is now one of RIM’s largest shareholders, and Mr. Watsa is being appointed to the company’s board of directors after playing a role in key discussions in recent weeks.

GO RIM!

[world traveler and former ceo]

lots of great news indeed! ... This will be a turnaround year for RIM!

[taajir]

2012...........go rim

[Lead_Express]

This is actually the more positive news from the shakeup. This man knows how to turn less into more and that's what RIM needs.

[Economist101]

Originally Posted by Lead_Express

This is actually the more positive news from the shakeup. This man knows how to turn less into more and that's what RIM needs.

Maybe he can play the Meg Whitman to Heins' Apotheker.

[Dapper37]

Originally Posted by Economist101

Maybe he can play the Meg Whitman to Heins' Apotheker.

So clever! some people must stay up all night dreaming up thier negative spin. But of course we are to believe what they have to say.

As i'm sure you know Apotheker was a total outsider to HP, look how that worked out. Heins is a insider that understands the company and is not about to drop what works for the unknown.

[OMGitworks]

Originally Posted by Economist101

Maybe he can play the Meg Whitman to Heins' Apotheker.

At the very least he will be able to have a few drinks with Leon Cooperman the last great investor whose investment in RIMM showed us all that we were clueless and RIMM was going much higher.

[OMGitworks]

Dapper -

So I checked Prem's RIMM investment from SEC quarterly records. I assume he accurately filed the required reports and they are public documents anyone can look at. He has taken a beating on RIMM.

Round numbers here my brain hurts today. First 2 million shares reported last June, average price $50.19. Bought another 6.3 million shares at average price of $43.84. Bought last 3.5 million at average price of $26.78. He held 11,788,300 shares at an approximate cost of $473,564,350 with a market value today of $187,433,970. It is not hard to see why he wants on the board, he wants his $300,000,000 back.

Lead_Express - In this case he turned more into (a lot) less, like $300 million less.

No doubt he is very smart, much smarter than I am and that he is right much more than he is wrong, but don't think his involvement is forward looking and that he likes RIMM and thinks its future is great. In fact, I bet he hates RIMM, he has lost $300M on this investment, he is trying to salvage it.

Those are the facts whether you want to believe them or not is up to you.

[Resist28]

Those are the facts whether you want to believe them or not is up to you.

I've heard that same thing from many short sighted and small minded investors.

[silversun10]

an instant solution would have been a take over deal at say$25, now that is off the table speculators are getting out.
now it is up to the new CEO to perform and that is going to take a couple of quarters, obviously RIM is a great company that dropped the ball badly recently.
lets give the new CEO a chance to put his stamp(his people) on RIM and we will take it from there.

[Economist101]

Originally Posted by Dapper37

So clever! some people must stay up all night dreaming up thier negative spin. But of course we are to believe what they have to say..

This is an Internet forum; EVERYTHING here is suspect, and I wouldn't expect you to believe anything. I certainly don't believe the things you write.

Originally Posted by Dapper37

As i'm sure you know Apotheker was a total outsider to HP, look how that worked out. Heins is a insider that understands the company and is not about to drop what works for the unknown.

Apotheker didn't fail because he was an outsider; he failed because he was a bad pick. That's how Wall Street viewed Apotheker at the time of his selection, and based on RIMM being down 8% today despite the switch, it appears Wall Street holds a similar opinion of Heins. (You should note the stock began tanking immediately after Heins' conference call this morning, a fact I'm sure you'll attempt to dismiss because Prem Watsa is here to save the day. Never mind that yesterday at this time you were claiming there were no problems at RIM, and that the alleged problems it was facing were all created by the American media.)

[Palmless]

Originally Posted by Resist28

I've heard that same thing from many short sighted and small minded investors.

Er, but in this case... you do realize he IS quoting actual facts, not opinions?

[quik4life]

Originally Posted by OMGitworks

No doubt he is very smart, much smarter than I am and that he is right much more than he is wrong, but don't think his involvement is forward looking and that he likes RIMM and thinks its future is great. In fact, I bet he hates RIMM, he has lost $300M on this investment, he is trying to salvage it.

Watsa is a BILLIONAIRE. This means that he is worth more than 1 billion dollars. In fact, he is worth several billion dollars. I'm pretty sure he isn't crying over 300 million.

In my opinion, Watsa joining the BODs gives me the confidence that RIM will succeed. He wants an active role in the best Canadian tech company. Watsa just doesn't want to make his money back, he wants to make more!!

[N8ter]

Originally Posted by quik4life

Watsa is a BILLIONAIRE. This means that he is worth more than 1 billion dollars. In fact, he is worth several billion dollars. I'm pretty sure he isn't crying over 300 million.

In my opinion, Watsa joining the BODs gives me the confidence that RIM will succeed. He wants an active role in the best Canadian tech company. Watsa just doesn't want to make his money back, he wants to make more!!

Please enlighten us: How are you so sure he doens't care about his 300 million dollars lost in that stock?

[Palmless]

Originally Posted by N8ter

Please enlighten us: How are you so sure he doens't care about his 300 million dollars lost in that stock?

LOL, I was wondering the same thing!

I don't have a billion, but if I lost 15% (assuming he's a two billionaire) to 30% (assuming he's a one billionaire), I'd be VERY concerned!!!!!!!!