Mihalis "Mike" Lazaridis (Greek: Μιχαήλ Λαζαρίδης), OC, O.Ont (born March 14, 1961, Istanbul, Turkey) is a Greek Canadian businessman, founder and Vice Chairman of Research In Motion (RIM), which created and manufactures the BlackBerry wireless handheld device. He is also a former chancellor of the University of Waterloo, and an Officer of the Order of Canada. With an estimated net worth of $US 800 Million (as of June 2011), Lazaridis was ranked ...
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Mihalis "Mike" Lazaridis (Greek: Μιχαήλ Λαζαρίδης), OC, O.Ont (born March 14, 1961, Istanbul, Turkey) is a Greek Canadian businessman, founder and Vice Chairman of Research In Motion (RIM), which created and manufactures the BlackBerry wireless handheld device. He is also a former chancellor of the University of Waterloo, and an Officer of the Order of Canada. With an estimated net worth of $US 800 Million (as of June 2011), Lazaridis was ranked by Forbes as the 17th wealthiest Canadian and 651st in the world.
Born in Istanbul, Turkey, to Greek parents (specifically Pontic), Lazaridis was five years old when his family moved to Canada in 1966, settling in Windsor, Ontario. At age 12, he won a prize at the Windsor Public Library for reading every science book in the library. In 1979, he enrolled at the University of Waterloo in electrical engineering with an option in computer science. In 1984, Lazaridis responded to a request for proposal from General Motors to develop a network...
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