Both AT&T and Research In Motion have announced executive changes that will be taking place soon within their respective companies late today. While it may be a little coincidental that both companies would announce changes on the same day, what"s not at all surprising is the day they chose to do so. The stock market is now closed and won"t be open until Monday morning, as reported by All Things Digital.
RIM stated that its chief marketing officer, Keith Pardy, has decided to leave the company for personal reasons. According to people familiar with the matter, a month ago Pardy had made the company and people within it aware that he had made the decision to leave. RIM didn"t say if they were planning on hiring someone to replace Pardy, but apparently he will continue to help the company over a six-month transition period. The announcement comes right when RIM is gearing up to release the BlackBerry PlayBook.
Meanwhile, AT&T disclosed that their current CFO, Rick Linder, who has been with the company for almost twenty years, will retire as of June 1st, 2011. He will be replaced by Controller John Stephens.
In a statement, CEO Randall Stephenson said "Rick is a world-class CFO who has done a remarkable job of positioning AT&T as one of the most financially strong companies in telecom[;] Rick and John have worked together closely for more than 15 years, and we expect a seamless transition."