BlackBerry today announced the appointment of Steven Capelli as Chief Financial Officer. Capelli brings 25 years of executive experience in the software and technology industry with a strong track record for driving profitable growth and increased operational efficiencies across business and corporate functions.
“I am pleased to welcome Steve Capelli as our new Chief Financial Officer,” said John Chen, Executive Chairman and CEO of BlackBerry.
“Steve is a highly experienced and respected financial expert and a strong business partner. He served in various roles at both Pyramid and Sybase for several years and reported directly to me during my service as the CEO of those companies. I look forward to the many contributions he will make toward driving value for BlackBerry shareholders as we continue to focus on end-to-end mobility solutions and enterprise software.”
Most recently, Capelli was President of Worldwide Field Operations at Sybase with responsibility for $1 billion in annual revenue. Capelli also led international operations at Sybase as General Manager with responsibility for sales, operations, finance, customer support, marketing and human resources. Prior to Sybase, Capelli was Chief Financial Officer of Siemens Pyramid.
Earlier in his career, he served in controller roles at Digital Equipment Corporation, Unisys Corporation and WR Grace and Company. Capelli currently serves on numerous corporate boards with representation on audit, compensation and governance committees. He received a bachelor’s degree in accounting from The College of New Jersey and an MBA in finance from Rutgers University.
Effective October 1, Capelli will lead the company’s corporate accounting, FP&A, treasury, tax, procurement and investor relations teams. He will report to Executive Chairman and CEO John Chen, and will succeed James Yersh, who is leaving the company for personal reasons. Yersh will remain with BlackBerry through October 31 and will assist with the transition.
“On behalf of the Board and our shareholders, I want to thank James for his great contributions to BlackBerry,” said Chen.
“Under James’ leadership we have achieved excellent financial discipline, a key accomplishment as part of our overall turnaround and transformation strategy for BlackBerry. We respect James’ decision and wish him the very best.”
