Should Blackberry Shareholders Have Faith In The Company When The CEO Doesn't?

There is a reason why when someone is training for any sporting event, they are always advised to aim for the gold because when you aim for gold, you at least get a shot at winning a silver or bronze. However, with BlackBerry Ltd BBRY CEO, John Chen, this doesn’t seem to be something he believes in.

Chen was recently interviewed by Bloomberg, in which he acknowledged that he isn’t sure if Blackberry can be iconic again.

When asked whether he is planning to sell Blackberry, Chen said, “I would prefer to give a lot of value before I even contemplate that.” He emphasized that in case of a sale “it’s not only the shareholders, it’s also the employees” whose interest Blackberry will need to look after.

He strongly disagreed with the possibility of Blackberry being sold to a Chinese company, saying, “We have one of our biggest installed base is in the government and so got the Five Eyes countries, where the government share intelligence and the G-7, I think, there will be a a lot of regulatory issues and concerns and I appreciate that.”

On being asked about what chances he gives himself on succeeding, Chen replied, “If you are talking about being able to create value, I think I could do that. […] I’ll say better than 80/20 (chances) […] So, I am comfortable with generating more value, whether it’s going to be good enough to be iconic again, that’s something that I need to chew on, I don’t know the answer to that question.”