Big tech resignations of 2012
This past year has seen some big moves and surprising resignations in the upper levels of some of the world’s top technology companies.
Beleaguered cellphone manufacturers Research In Motion (RIM) and Nokia lost executives during 2012, though the BlackBerry maker stood out with its co-CEOs both stepping down in the span of a few months.
A notable ouster of 2012 was Scott Thompson, whose short stint at Yahoo will be remembered for his biography stating that he had a computer science degree when he in fact didn’t.
One of the year’s bigger surprises was the early retirement of Intel CEO Paul Otellini. Intel reportedly requires CEOs to retire at 65, while Otellini will step down at the age of 62.
Here are some of the more high-profile resignations at tech companies during 2012:
Intel: Paul Otellini
Paul Otellini – Intel President and CEO
Microsoft: Steven Sinofski
Steven Sinofsky
Sinofsky was head of Microsoft’s Windows unit and the announcement of his departure came as a surprise, especially considering that he was the executive most widely tipped to be the next CEO of Microsoft.
Scott Thompson: Yahoo
Scott Thompson
Nokia: Ilari Nurmi, Colin Giles
Ilari Nurmi (left) and Colin Giles (right)
Colin Giles, executive VP of sales at Nokia, resigned after the Finnish phone maker posted a $1.7-billion loss and a 50% drop in smartphone sales.
Ilari Nurmi, VP of product marketing left amidst a controversy around a promo video of optical image stabilisation technology in the new Nokia Lumia 920.
Research in Motion: Mike Lazaridis, Jim Balsillie
Mike Lazaridis (left) and Jim Balsillie (right)
According to Reuters, to former co-CEOs of RIM bowed to investor pressure and resigned as the bosses of the BlackBerry-maker at the beginning of the year.
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