Thorsten Heins (born 29 December 1957) is a German-Canadian businessman and the former chief executive officer (CEO) of BlackBerry.
[4] In January 2012, Heins was named to succeed co-CEOs Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis as president and CEO.
[7] Heins was replaced by John Chen, a veteran Silicon Valley executive, during a November 2013 management shakeup and left the company with a $13.8 million severance.
[8][3] Prem Watsa, the board member who recruited John Chen said, "Thorsten did a very good job given the hand that he was dealt, but resigned because you can’t have two people being in charge.
During Heins' tenure Powermat secured an agreement from Samsung to incorporate its wireless charging technology into future smartphones.
Heins' resignation helped settle the lawsuits just mentioned and allowed for new investment from several important shareholders.