Three top executives are leaving struggling smartphone maker BlackBerry, as recently appointed chief cxecutive John Chen embarks on his promised shake up.
Chief financial offier Brian Bidulka, chief operating officer Kristian Tear and chief marketing officer Frank Boulben are all leaving the firm, although Bidulka will stay on until March as a special adviser to Chen.
BlackBerry named James Yersh as its new finance chief. Yersh has worked with BlackBerry since 2008, serving as its senior vice president, controller and head of compliance.
Chen said BlackBerry is setting its marketing sights on corporations, governments and the big clients that were at the root of its early success.
Reinforcing the focus on high-profit business customers that BlackBerry outlined in September, Chen said he aims to make the company a top provider for companies and governments of mobile devices and device-management tools.
BlackBerry named Chen, a turnaround artist with software maker Sybase in the late 1990s, as its interim CEO earlier this month as it unexpectedly shelved efforts to sell itself. It opted instead to raise $1 billion in a funding round led by Fairfax Financial Holdings, its largest shareholder.
"New interim CEO Chen is not behaving like an interim CEO, in our view, and is dramatically altering the company," Jefferies analyst Peter Misek wrote in a research note, expressing surprise at how hands-on Chen has been.
BlackBerry did not name replacements for the other two executives exiting the company, but signaled more changes could be coming. It said Roger Martin, a board member since 2007, has also resigned.
