Canadian businessman and former Research In Motion co-CEO and chair Jim Balsillie is shown during an interview in Toronto, April 17, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Cole BurstonIt was almost inevitable the Waterloo, Ont., businessman would one day be portrayed in film for his role in the global success of the BlackBerry smartphone.
The realness buried in the "BlackBerry" movie has fascinated a segment of the former employees at Research In Motion, the company that later renamed itself after the smartphone it created. He will attend the Toronto premiere at the TIFF Bell Lightbox on Friday and plans to walk the red carpet in a show of support. But he's leaving the Q&A portion of the post-screening to the moviemakers, skirting any possibility that he could fall into a fact vs. fiction debate in a public space.
Still, despite Balsillie's willing participation, he wouldn't mind setting a few things straight about his time at RIM, where he served as co-CEO. "If you think growing a $20-billion company is designing illegal tax scams and raging f-bombs there's nothing I can do to help you," Balsillie said.
I miss my keybooaaaaard