Mike Lazaridis

Mike Lazaridis
OC OOnt FRS
Mike Lazaridis portrait via the Royal Society
8th Chancellor of the University of Waterloo
In office
2003–2009
Preceded byVal O'Donovan
Succeeded byPrem Watsa
President/Vice Chancellor
David Johnston
Personal details
Born
Mihal Lazaridis

(1961-03-14) March 14, 1961 (age 63)[1]
Istanbul, Turkey
Alma materUniversity of Waterloo (dropped out in 1984, honorary degree in 2000)
OccupationFounder & Managing Partner, Quantum Valley Investments Founder, BlackBerry Limited
Known for
Awards

Mihal "Mike" Lazaridis OC OOnt FRS (born March 14, 1961) is a Greek Canadian businessman, investor in quantum computing technologies, and co-founder of Research In Motion, which created and manufactured the BlackBerry wireless handheld device. In November 2009, Canadian Business ranked Lazaridis as the 11th wealthiest Canadian, with an estimated net worth of CA$2.9 billion (equivalent to $4 billion in 2023).[3]

Lazaridis served in various positions including co-chairman and co-CEO of BlackBerry from 1984 to 2012 and Board Vice Chair and Chair of the Innovation Committee from 2012 to 2013. As an advocate for the power of basic science to improve and transform the world,[4] he co-founded Quantum Valley Investments in March 2013 with childhood friend and BlackBerry co-founder Douglas Fregin to provide financial and intellectual capital for the further development and commercialization of breakthroughs in quantum information science.[5] In 1999 he founded the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, where he also serves as board chair.[6] In 2002, he founded the Institute for Quantum Computing.[7] He is also a former chancellor of the University of Waterloo, and an Officer of the Order of Canada (OC).

  1. ^ "Mike Lazaridis | The Canadian Encyclopedia". www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca. Retrieved 21 March 2020.
  2. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference royal was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Froats, Phil; Li, Heather (2009-11-22). "RICH 100". Canadian Business. Archived from the original on 2009-11-22. Retrieved 2024-02-18.
  4. ^ "RIM co-founder donates $50M to Waterloo physics centre". CBC News. June 5, 2008. Retrieved 8 October 2015.
  5. ^ Quantum Valley | Media Centre. Quantum Valley Investments (2013-03-19). Retrieved on 2013-10-23.
  6. ^ "Homepage | Perimeter Institute". perimeterinstitute.ca.
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference :0 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).