Jim Balsillie
James L. (Jim) Balsillie born February 3, 1961 in Peterborough, Ontario. He is an accountant, chairman and co-CEO of Research In Motion. He received a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Toronto, where he was admitted to the Zeta Psi fraternity. He earned an MBA from Harvard University in 1989. Jim is also a noted athlete, passionate fitness advocate and role model for his friends and colleagues. He was Athlete of the Year at Trinity College, University of Toronto, plays hockey and golf at competitive levels, and coaches his son's soccer and basketball teams. He currently trains and competes in Men's Long Course Triathlons. [1]
In October 2006, Balsille purchased the Pittsburgh Penguins, an NHL franchise, for $175 million from Mario Lemieux and his partners (Lemieux Group)[1].
Philanthropic work
In 2000, Balsillie provided $10 million of personal funds towards the founding of the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, adding to the $100 million already contributed by fellow RIM executive Mike Lazaridis.
In 2002, Balsillie founded the Centre for International Governance Innovation with $30 million of personal funds.
Statement regarding patents
Responding to the settlement by RIM against NTP, Inc., Balsillie listed several flaws with the U.S. patent system, particularly that too many "bogus" patents are issued. He also stated that the judge in the case ignored later findings by the U.S. patent office that NTP's patents were not valid, and quoted a Newsweek article in saying that the court's treatment of RIM was like "a judge in a murder case pondering execution while ignoring DNA evidence that exonerates the accused[2].