According to The Wall Street Journal, Research in Motion co-chief executive officers Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis have resigned from their position at the Canada-based company. No official word from RIM has come yet this evening, but the transition is said to be effective tomorrow, January 23. Current chief operating officer Thorsten Heins will be named the company's new CEO.
Director Barbara Stymiest will take over as chairman, while Lazaridis will become vice chairman. Balsillie will remain at the company as a board member.
RIM was founded in 1984 by Lazaridis, who has been CEO ever since. The company, however, has had lots of struggles and setbacks over the past couple of years, mainly as a result of strong competition from competitors like Apple and Google. It's not a huge surprise that the two stepped down as CEOs, but the future of the already-struggling telecommunications company remains in question.
UPDATE: RIM has officially announced the change. In addition, the company released the video below to introduce Thorsten Heins.
[...] nearly 8.5% (1.44 points), just twenty-four hours after the company's Co-Chief Executive Officers resigned and a new CEO was named. Those who were expecting RIM to immediately come out of its struggles were evidently incorrect, [...]