James Laurence Balsillie (born February 3, 1961) is a Canadian businessman and philanthropist. He is the former Chair and co-CEO of the Canadian technology company Research In Motion (Blackberry), which at its prime made over $20B in sales annually. Since leaving Blackberry in 2012, Balsillie has taken up a number of roles in Canadian business and society. He is the founder of the Balsillie School of International Affairs at the University of Waterloo, the Centre for International Governance and Innovation (CIGI) think tank, and serves as Chair of the Canadian Council of Innovators. Early life Balsillie was born to an Ontario Hydro electrician in Seaforth, Ontario. He received a Bachelor of Commerce degree from Trinity College at the University of Toronto in 1984, where he was also a member of the elite Zeta Psi fraternity. He earned an MBA from Harvard Business School in 1989. Adult life Balsillie was hired by Mike Lazaridis in 1992, when Research In Motion (RIM), an early venture into handheld telephony technology, had 14 employees. RIM would eventually become the "international powerhouse" called BlackBerry Limited, and have as many as 18,000 employees. Both men prospered from this companionship, with Lazaridis looking after the technological side while Balsillie looked after the sales business and accounting end of things. At RIM Many people considered that Balsillie infused RIM with "institutional arrogance" as he remade the landscape of the smartphone industry. He was "feared and respected" by senior managers within his hierarchy. The twin-CEO structure that was evolved by Lazaridis and Balsillie eventually became cumbersome and inhibited their competition with their new rival Apple, as piloted by Steve Jobs. In June 2007, Apple brought to market the first reliable touchscreen smartphone, while Steve Ballmer of Microsoft discarded the idea, while Barack Obama professed his love for his BlackBerry. BlackBerry would not have a reliable touch-screen smartphone until after Balsillie's departure from the executive suite. On March 5, 2007, Balsillie resigned his role as chairman of RIM as the firm reported over US$250 million in past stock option accounting errors after an extensive review. He retained his roles as co-chief executive and director. On May 17, 2007, RIM announced that "Consistent with current best practices in corporate governance, the roles of Chairman and CEO have been separated.". In February 2009, as part of the penalties and sanctions approved by the OSC in settling the improper option practices, which the