RIM's Woes Earn it an Accolade of Notoriety

Once the most valuable company in Canada, RIM has fallen from grace - hard. 2011 was RIM's worst year ever in far too many ways.

Capping off the year is an accolade earned for the wrong reasons. The Canadian Press dubbed RIM's dual head honchos, Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis, as the Business Newsmaker of 2011. This title can be a good or bad thing - after all, news can be about success or failure. We know why RIM won.

RIM earned 37% of the votes - CP surveys its editors and broadcasters across the country - well ahead of "the Canadian economy" at just 24%, and nearly triple the 13% that third-place Keystone XL garnered. In 2009, Jim snagged the same title, but for entirely different reasons. That's back when RIM had a share price well above $100, its CEOs could do no wrong, and the company appeared unstoppable.

It's the second time Balsillie's name has topped the annual survey of business editors and news directors — the last was in 2009. Since then, RIM's marketshare has eroded, its stock has plunged, and its CEOs are hated by investors, to name but a few differences.