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“He sold everything. That’s what it looks like,” Mr. Gorman said after perusing the filing required by anyone who owns 5% or more of a class of shares and then adds to or reduces that position.

As of Dec. 11, 2011, Mr. Balsillie held 26,840,490 shares of RIM stock. While it remains unclear at which point in 2012 Mr. Balsillie sold his shares, based on RIM’s average 2012 share price of $10.96, his sale would have netted him in the neighbourhood of US$294-million.

Between 2008 and 2012, Mr. Balsillie reduced his stake in RIM by roughly 9 million shares at much higher selling prices.

Mr. Balsillie’s sell off could be interpreted as a sign that RIM’s longtime leader has lost confidence in BlackBerry’s hopes for a turnaround, a move that could be a cause for concern among investors. But a dip in reaction to the news was wiped out by midday Thursday and BlackBerry’s shares ended the day up 7.8% on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

Once Canada’s most famous business executive, Mr. Balsillie became an international icon as the leader of RIM as the company’s BlackBerry devices achieved international acclaim, defining the smartphone market more than a decade ago.

Mr. Balsillie resigned his seat on RIM’s board of directors last March, just two months after he and Mr. Lazaridis were replaced as the leaders of RIM by BlackBerry CEO Thorsten Heins.

Under his leadership, RIM grew to become the jewel of Canada’s business community internationally, only to plummet in the face of overwhelming competition from its smartphone rivals, namely Apple Inc.’s iPhone and devices running Google Inc.’s Android software.