BORN: March 14, 1961, in Istanbul, Turkey

HOMETOWN: Windsor, Ontario, since moving to Canada as a kid in 1966.

EDUCATION: Attended University of Waterloo in electrical engineering. Dropped out to start RIM. While later leading RIM, he served as the school’s chancellor.

FAMILY: Married with two kids.

CAREER: Invented BlackBerry and co-founded RIM in 1984, during his last year at college. Stepped down as co-CEO in January 2012, became vice chairman and board director. Leaving RIM on May 1. Recently co-founded a $100 million venture capital fund called Quantum Valley Investments, to focus on the power of quantum computing.

COMMUNITY: Founded the Quantum-Nano Centre in Waterloo in 2012. Founded the Institute for Quantum Computing at the University of Waterloo in 2002. Established the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics in 2000. Has spent $270 million in the community, including $170 million on Perimeter.

EARLY ACHIEVER: He won a prize at age 12 for reading every science book in the Windsor Public Library.

THE ARTS: Won Academy Award and Emmy Award for technical achievements for developing a high-speed bar-code reader that has helped speed up film editing.

QUOTE: “I’m very proud of what we built at RIM together. I believe I’m leaving the company in good hands.”

WEALTH: Lazaridis’ stake in RIM was worth more than $3 billion at its peak in 2008, according to Forbes magazine, but the value has fallen to about $440 million amid the company’s declining stock price.