Waterloo, ON, Canada - November 25, 2013, Waterloo, ON, Canada - BlackBerry Limited announced that Kristian Tear, chief operating officer, and Frank Boulben, chief marketing officer, will leave the company.
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Mr. Tear served as Executive Vice President of Sales & Marketing at Sony Mobile Communications AB, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation, the Head of Global Sales and Marketing and Executive Vice President at Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications AB, and as Head of Global Customer Accounts and Head of Western Europe Region - Sony Ericsson of Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications (USA), Inc.
Mr. Tear served as Head of Global Sales & Marketing at Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications (USA), Inc., the Head of Western Europe Region at Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications AB, and hr also served as its Head of Global Customer Accounts.
Mr. Tear was President of Ericsson Southeast Asia and Country Manager of Ericsson Malaysia at Ericsson SpA, General Manager of Market Unit South East Asia and Vice President at Ericsson SpA, and General Manager of Market Unit South East Asia and Vice President at Ericsson Telecomunicacoes S.A. (formerly, Telefonaktiebolaget Lm Ericsson (publ)). Mr. Tear spent 17 years at Ericsson in various senior management positions.
Mr. Tear holds a Masters Degree in Science from the Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden and completed the Ericsson Executive MBA programme at Columbia University in New York.
Mr. Boulben served as the Chief Marketing Officer of LightSquared Company, Global Director of Commercial Strategy for Vodafone Group, and he joined Vodafone as New Business Development Director. He served as an Executive Vice President of Brand and Consumer Marketing of Orange SA. He began his career as a consultant for Corporate Value Associates (CVA).
Mr. Boulben is a graduate of the Ecole Polytechnique and Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chausees (Major in Network Economy and Management).
The company also announced that James Yersh will replace Mr. Bidulka as its Chief Financial Officer. Mr. Bidulka will stay on as a special advisor to the CEO for the remainder of the fiscal year to assist with the transition.
Mr. Yersh previously served as the Senior Vice President, Controller of BlackBerry. He was responsible for the Company's consolidated and legal entity accounting, the external reporting function, insurance programs, as well as a number of aspects of management reporting and results analysis, and the consolidation of forecasts and plans. ■