CEO

TechnoMarine Watches CEO Vincent Perriard Jumps Ship

It has been a crazy couple of years for Vincent Perriard. About 18 months ago he suddenly left his CEO position at Concord watches to join TechnoMarine during their brand "relaunch" (which I discussed here). Things seemed to be going quite well. The charismatic Perriard had some very good ideas for the brand and their new direction as exhibited last March during Baselworld 2010 seemed positive. Now at the end of 2010 news has suddenly come in that Perriard left his CEO role at TechnoMarine. What happened?

TechnoMarine's new vitality is more or less attributed to a capital injection by Christian Viros, who presumably worked with Perriard to get him aboard. In a very short amount of time Perriard was able inject TechnoMarine with a new lease on life with a relatively strong new design direction as well as the clever "Ocean Addict" marketing campaign. Just as we were all looking forward to seeing what would come in 2011, he suddenly left. Under Perriard in 2010, TechnoMarine reportedly grew by 34%.

According to TechnoMarine, the break was peaceful, and instead of lining up another CEO, Christian Viros will step in and take a more lead role in the management and direction of the brand. Perriard is rumored to claim disagreements with the TechnoMarine board who presumably shared fundamental differences of opinion with him on the direction of the company. Sources further indicate that Perriard is working on a new project. Something "post crisis," which seems to allude to a higher-end luxury project that will shows its face when economic times are (hopefully) soon better.

Ariel Adams publishes the luxury watch reviews site aBlogtoRead.com.

Tags: ceo, christian viros, technomarine, vincent perriard, watch

How BP's Tony Hayward Got Shortchanged

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wealth, Crimes and Misdemeanors

On July 26 my colleague Deirdre Woollard reported that ousted BP CEO Tony Hayward (right), who become the target of international ire after the company failed to contain the massive Gulf oil spill, will walk away with $1.5 million in salary and benefits plus a pension worth over $17 million, for a total of cashout of $18.5 million.

That may seem like a lot of money for someone who oversaw the worst ecological disaster in recent history and watched his company's fortunes plummet – but in fact Hayward's "golden parachute" is pretty damned paltry compared to other recently ousted CEO's payouts, the Economist points out.

For instance, Hayward's kiss-off is a whopping $191.5 million less than the $210 million received by Home Depot CEO Robert Nardelli in 2007, who departed the company after its share price plunged. After the jump you'll find the newspaper's selected ranking of CEO payouts, showing Hayward languishing in last place. So don't be too hard on the guy - compared to his other former CEO pals he's practically penniless and they're probably all making fun of him at the club:

Tags: BP, business, CEO, CEOs, Citigroup, Merrill Lynch, oil spill, Tony Hayward, wealth

Continue reading “How BP's Tony Hayward Got Shortchanged”

Oracle's Larry Ellison Is World's Highest Paid CEO

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wealth

Oracle's Larry Ellison received a whopping $1.84 billion in compensation over the past decade, making him the world's highest paid CEO according to a new Wall Street Journal survey of public companies. The founder and chief executive of software maker Oracle Corp. beat out rival Barry Diller, chairman of IAC/InterActive, for the top spot; Diller received roughly $1.14 billion in compensation. Following Diller are Occidental Petroleum Corp. CEO Ray Irani at $857 million, Apple Inc.'s Steve Jobs with $749 million and, in fifth place, Capital One Financial Corp. CEO Richard Fairbank at $569 million. Ellison, the sixth richest person in the world with a personal fortune of $28 billion, is known for his passion for high-tech sailing yachts and owns a Woodside, California estate estimated to be worth $200 million. He's also said to have recently paid $10.5 million for Beechwood, the historic Astor family mansion in Newport, RI that was our estate of the day back in May 2007.

Tags: Apple, Barry Diller, billionaires, CEO, highest paying jobs, Larry Ellison, Steve Jobs, wealth

Seiko Fires CEO In Rare Japanese Corporate Move

by Ariel Adams (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Timepieces / Watches

Executive terminations in the USA aren't usually very newsworthy - nor in Europe for that matter. But in Japan where the historic sentiment was "job for life," the outing of a CEO by the board is a big deal. Especially when the termination wasn't even disguised as "resignation." 72 year old former top executive of Seiko Koichi Murano (not the man in the picture here) was removed by the board recently for flat out doing a bad job. From the outside it is almost impossible to determine exactly what Mr. Murano did improperly (for likely a long period of time), but it was enough for his dismissal to be referred to as being due to "dogmatic, and tendentious" management of the company. For a Japanese brand to remove someone for being inflexible and likely highly bureaucratic is saying a lot. I actually am proud of Seiko's move. When something doesn't work properly you fix it. Seiko made no cover-up of its management musical chairs, and I think the move speaks positively of them from a public relations perspective and for brand confidence.

While I didn't meet Mr. Murano during my visit to Seiko, I did meet his replacement, 52 year old Shinji Hattori (the man in the picture). A high-level executive Seiko himself, Mr. Hattori will now oversee that entire (complex) entity that is Seiko. Seiko lost money last year - likely due to the highly depressed watch industry, but remains one of the top watch makers in the world. Comparatively speaking, they didn't lose that much money though. Mr. Hattori will be responsible for modernizing Seiko a bit in terms of marketing, sales, and distribution, I am sure. I can't say much else about him, but at least he isn't a "dogmatic manager." A year from now we will see how things work out for the major Japanese company.

Via Financial Times.

Ariel Adams publishes the luxury watch review site aBlogtoRead.com.

Tags: CEO, Japan, koichi murano, Seiko, Shinji Hattori, watch, watch brands, watches

Maserati's North American CEO called up to Modena

by Noah Joseph (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Cars & Autos

Exotic Italian automaker Maserati has been undergoing a series of personnel changes among its top executives, one that has seen the meteoric rise of one talented American.

Last year Mark McNabb – a former top exec for such luxury brands as Cadillac, Saab, Infiniti and Mercedes-Benz – was named CEO of Maserati's North American operations. Now McNabb has been named chief commercial officer for the parent company back in Modena.

In what has become typical style for top execs in the Fiat/Chrysler empire, McNabb will carry both portfolios, continuing to run the New Jersey office in addition to overseeing the company's global commercial efforts. He'll be reporting to Harald J. Wester, who runs Maserati as well as Alfa Romeo and Abarth, while their colleague Olivier Francois, for another example, runs both Lancia and the Chrysler division.

Tags: ceo, Chief Executive, chief executive officer, exec, executive, executives, mark mcnabb, maserati, mcnabb

Maserati CEO Harald Wester Named Head of Alfa Romeo

by Noah Joseph (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Cars & Autos

Alfa Romeo and Maserati – two of Italy's most storied auto marques – have been more closely integrating over the course of the past several years. But now with the Fiat empire under which both brands lie growing to accomodate Chrysler, Alfa and Maserati are set to cooperate even further following the appointment of Harald J. Wester as chief executive of Alfa Romeo.

Executive reshuffles happen all the time in the auto industry, especially in the Fiat group as of late. But usually a new appointment means the vacation of another. In Wester's case, however, he'll be taking over Alfa Romeo in addition to his role as CEO of Maserati. Not only that, but he'll remain CEO of the Abarth performance brand as well, plus chief technical officer for the entire group.

As with the appointment of Lancia CEO Olivier Francois as head of the Chrysler brand, we can expect Alfa, Maserati and even Abarth to work more closely in the near future, most critically in North America where Maserati has been preparing the ground for Alfa and Abarth to return.

Source

Tags: abarth, alfa, alfa romeo, AlfaRomeo, ceo, Chief Executive, chief executive officer, ChiefExecutive, ChiefExecutiveOfficer, harald j wester, harald j. wester, harald wester, HaraldJ.Wester, HaraldJWester, HaraldWester, maserati, wester

Romain Jerome Watches New CEO Manuel Emch

by Ariel Adams (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Timepieces / Watches

I feel like this is watch industry musical chairs. First Yvan Arpa gets ousted by Romain Jerome as their CEO. He then sues them for wrongful termination and wins. In another room, Manuel Emch spends several years putting his heart and soul into building up and refining Swatch Group owned Jaquet Droz, only to later leave. Now Yvan Arapa is busy fighting in karate and not watch makers, and Romain Jerome appoints Manuel Emch as their new CEO. Is history doomed to repeat itself? Will the wild Mr. Arpa be the next unlikely CEO of an ultra conservative Swatch Group brand? Who knows.

Yvan Arpa made Romain Jerome what it is today - hands down. After unwisely letting him go, avant garde watch maker Romain Jerome was without good talent. They perhaps wisely attracted the younger and energetic Manuel Emch to their ranks who has just been announced to lead the company in hopefully more or less the same direction as Yvan Arpa was taking them (which is more or less good a thing). Emch will take his seat at the helm of the unique watch maker on January 1, 2010. It will be a good holiday season for him now that he is no long unemployed. I am curious to see what changes and new products he will bring.

Ariel Adams publishes the luxury watch review site aBlogtoRead.com.

Tags: CEO, Manuel Emch, ManuelEmch, Romain Jerome, RomainJerome, watch

Billionaire Johann Rupert New CEO Of Richemont Group

by Ariel Adams (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Jewelry, Timepieces / Watches, Wealth

Frequent among the Forbes Magazine list of world's richest people, South African native Johann Rupert has been appointed the new CEO of the Richemont Group, who is owns a bevy of world-class watch and jewelry labels. Among these are Cartier, Panerai, Jaeger-LeCoultre, and A. Lange & Sohne. It is unclear to me why Richemont Group's previous CEO left (sources say he retired), but with Rupert's history in the luxury realm, as well as charismatic personality, he seems like a good fit. Plus, he is wealthy enough to afford his company's own products.

One thing that Rupert made clear, is important for the company's future. Unlike the recent increase of detailed oversight of the brands under the Richemont umbrella, Rupert has indicated that he desires autonomy for the group brands. This is one of the major reasons we saw a rash of CEO resignations from Richemont brands (such as A. Lange & Sohne and Baume & Mercier). Hopefully Rupert is aware of the fact that micromanaging didn't do anyone any good, ever.

Rupert is not exactly a self-made man, but has done well with the incredible wealth that he inherited. His business record is quite impressive. It is well known in the watch industry that times are tough for luxury items. Richemont Group and main competitor Swatch Group have been hit hard, so it will be interesting to see their plans for recovery over the next few years.

Ariel Adams publishes the luxury watch review site aBlogtoRead.com.

Tags: CEO, Johann Rupert, JohannRupert, Richemont Group, RichemontGroup

Baume & Mercier Watches Lose Their CEO

by Ariel Adams (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Timepieces / Watches

What is it, resign as CEO season? Just the other day I wrote about how A. Lange & Sohne lost their CEO, and now the same is happening to Swiss watch brand Baume & Mercier. I still know them by their "original" name "Baume et Mercier." Guess that "&" was put in there for us Americans. These resignations are starting to look awfully fishy if you ask me.

Michel Nieto, the CEO of Baume & Mercier just called it quits after being at Baume & Mercier since 2002. Just like A. Lange & Sohne, Baume & Mercier is part of the Richemont Group, and just like A. Lange & Sohne's loss of their CEO Fabian Krone, Richemont Group identified the reason for Nieto's resignation as a "strategic disagreement." Not that I don't believe PR speak, but either Richemont is handing out a canned response or we are going to see a major change in the organization of the group's brands in the coming months. I can't speculate if this is good or bad, but I anticipate change is 'ah comin' in the luxury watch world. Aside from the Swatch Group, Richemont Group is the largest collection of luxury watch brands.

Ariel Adams publishes the luxury watch review site aBlogtoRead.com.

Tags: baume mercier, BaumeMercier, ceo, michel nieto, MichelNieto, resign, richemont group, RichemontGroup, watch

A. Lange & Sohne CEO Fabian Krone Steps Down

by Ariel Adams (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Timepieces / Watches

It was sad news to hear that Fabian Krone, the charming and charismatic CEO of luxury watch company A. Lange & Sohne has stepped down, and left the company. On numerous occasions A. Lange & Sohne has been heralded as the best Germany luxury brand, as well as best German watch brand. I've been to their factory and viewed many of their watches. I can easily attest to all of this being more than mere hyperbole.

While the watch industry has been down, and will be down for the next few years, there are no signs that Lange is hurting disproportionately. Plus, being under the wing of the Richemont Group certainly helps curb economic issues. So why did Mr. Krone leave the company? Hard to say, but reports suggest disagreements between him and others regarding the future direction of the company. Who Fabian disagreed with and over what issues are still a mystery to me. I have a feeling that it may be part of the stifling effect Lange experienced as being part of the Richemont Group. Though, this is speculation. When you are part of a group of brands, the problem is that issues can occur when brands compete with one another or wish to do something that the parent company does not want. For this reason there may have been pressure for Lange to act or not act in various ways when it came to future products or other company directions.

For the mean time the company COO Jerzy Schaper will take over as interim CEO until a replacement is found. Having shaken the man's hand in the past - I wish him success and prosperity in his next career move.

Via Perpetuelle.

Ariel Adams publishes the luxury watch review site aBlogtoRead.com.

Tags: a lange sohne, ALangeSohne, ceo, fabian krone, FabianKrone, resign, step down, StepDown, watch

EXCLUSIVE: Vertu President Perry Oosting's Ten Essential Luxuries

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Timepieces / Watches, Luxury Cars & Autos, Wine, Writing Instruments, Celebrity Shopping, Men's Style, 10 Luxuries

Click above to see Perry Oosting's 10 Luxuries

Welcome to our new feature, "10 Luxuries." For each installment a notable figure in the world of luxury, tastemaker or stylish personality will tell us about the 10 necessary luxuries they simply cannot do without. Related quotes and images of each item can be found in the gallery.

Perry Oosting became president of Vertu, the world's leading luxury mobile phone manufacturer, earlier this year. He joined the company with extensive experience in the luxury industry via senior roles held at several blue chip brands including Bulgari, Prada, Gucci and Escada.Vertu uses the finest materials from the world of watchmaking, automotive design, aeronautics, and jewelry to create truly unique mobile phones of unparalleled craftsmanship and exclusivity, such as the new Ascent Ti Carbon Fiber. Vertu is also the only phone in the world to ever receive a hallmark from the Swiss Assay Office, the organization that guarantees the quality of the world's finest watches. In the gallery, Oosting reveals his 10 essential luxuries, from his favorite hotel, watch and car to shoes, wine, writing instrument and more, and tells us what makes them a must.

Gallery: Vertu President Perry Oosting's 10 Luxuries

A good vintage Bordeaux St Emilion from France or Brunello from Italy

Tags: Boucheron, CEO, Churchs, Italy, Maserati, mobile phone, MobilePhone, Mont Blanc, MontBlanc, Perry Oosting, PerryOosting, Prada, Tiffany Co., TiffanyCo., Vertu

Wyler Geneve Watches Laid To Rest, Ever To Wake Up?

by Ariel Adams (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Timepieces / Watches

Swiss watch maker Wyler Geneve has just laid off all of its employees save for their CEO. While not officially closing shop, the company says it is going into "hibernation mode" and will attempt to wait out the "crisis" that is going on in the watch industry. This refers to the generally awful economy dissuading consumers from investing in many of the more expensive or less known brands out there. It is unclear what will occur with the existing Wyler watch inventory out there or how existing customers will receive service for the expensive luxury watches.

Wyler attempted to make headlines by producing the first all carbon neutral watches out there. This was done via the purchase of carbon offsets that I discussed as being good-natured but not particularly impressive. Wyler CEO Ryan St. George, is the only remaining employee, and it is unclear what his role will be once the rest of the employees have left. The brand's "deep freeze" will start in the coming months. A question arises as to what Wyler did wrong having reasonably nice watches that are certainly unique. The issue could be market penetration, distribution, or consumer interest. There is also the matter of pricing, which was optimistic to say the least. During the "bull economy" of the watch industry you had new brands popping up all over the place. Many with good ideas, and all with 'impressively' high prices. The market reality has finally caught up with them and they must learn the hard lesson that the market, not the manufacturer, determines what people will actually pay.

Via Perpetuelle via Business Montres (in French).

Ariel Adams publishes the luxury watch review site aBlogtoRead.com.

Tags: CEO, closing hibernation, ClosingHibernation, company, geneve, watch, wyler

Avant-Garde Watch Maker Romain Jerome Loses Avant-Garde CEO Yvan Arpa

by Ariel Adams (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Timepieces / Watches

He has been everything from controversial to overly confident, but he made watch company Romain Jerome what it is today - successful. Abruptly, the board of directors at Romain Jerome ousted the now former CEO Yvan Arpa a few days ago. Officially it might have been that Yvan Arpa "resigned" but local voices agree on the fact that he was forced out. He, as well as four members of his management team are out - a total purging of previous control. A new CEO and management team has already been assigned. It is unclear why this occurred, expect for the fact that Mr. Arpa has a reputation for being "difficult to control" and highly "characterful" in his management style. Who else could come up with some of the ideas that Yvan had, such as the Romain Jerome Titanic DNA and Moon Dust DNA watch lines.

Prior to Arpa's time at Romain Jerome, the brand was extremely "niche" with a couple of golf themed watches with highly limited marketability. In my opinion. Yvan Arpa came in, shook things up, and eventually caused Romain Jerome to be backed-up with millions of dollars in orders from interested buyers willing to wait long periods of time for their watches to be made. As unwise as the Romain Jerome board's action seem, it is easy to get overly confident once things are good. It is possible for them to survive another decade at least on the ideas and image that Arpa created. They might feel as though he is no longer needed, but without him their ability to innovate may be limited. In the meantime they can imagine new ways to spin the brand. This has happened before with other brands, but once the creative juice is gone, so is the passion, and the character of the watches quickly begins to fade. Although I was not a fan of every Romain Jerome watch, I liked enough of their novel timepiece creations to now lament Mr. Arpa's passing - to hopefully greener pastures. If we are lucky he will be snatched up by another watch brand or start something fresh (the economic "crisis" permitting).

Via WorldTempus (in French).

Ariel Adams publishes the luxury watch review site aBlogtoRead.com.

Tags: ceo, romain jerome, RomainJerome, yvan arpa, YvanArpa

Concord Watch's CEO Vincent Perriard Resigns, Joins TechnoMarine

by Ariel Adams (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Timepieces / Watches

Concord and I have had a funny little brief history as I have not been as kind to their watch designs as they would have hoped for. I reviewed such watches at their "$$$,$$$" priced Quantum Gravity Tourbillon with less than jovial enthusiasm. Concord even responded to me via their CEO Vincent Perriard who admirably defended the brand, and his ideas. It was a sign of his dedication to his position and the brand that he helped rebuild. Now that dedication has waned and Mr. Perriard has resigned from Concord, to be effective as soon as possible. He will now take the helm at TechnoMarine, a wholly different type of watch company fitting into a lower end segment with much higher volume production.

I have to ask myself whether this move was prompted by Mr. Perriard's outgrowing of Concord, or vice versa. There have been many critics (such as myself) of where Concord strayed during its "re-birth." Others seemingly loved it as a few of the watches even received design awards. Though I suppose not all was well, and now the critics may have prevailed as Concord might have the possibility to offer arguably more "marketable" watches under new leadership (as of now still undecided). I can't speak as to the sentiments on each side of the table, but I sense a degree of "bad blood" as it appears Perriard ditched camp before his time was due - leaving Concord floundering to fill the position and delicately plan its future. We will see what types of new ideas Perriard can breathe into TechnoMarine that has traditionally enjoyed a fair amount of market success.

Via WorldTempus (in French).

Ariel Adams publishes the luxury watch review site aBlogtoRead.com.

Tags: ceo, concord, resign, swiss, timepieces, vincent perriard, VincentPerriard, watches

Tourneau Luxury Watch Stores Lose CEO

by Ariel Adams (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Timepieces / Watches

Tourneau is the largest chain of watch retailers in the world with their largest store in Las Vegas in the Caesar's Palace Forum Shops, and headquartered in New York City. Like all retail watch stores, Tourneau has been hit hard by the economic slump due to drastically decreased luxury watch demand. On the plus side, they finally started to sell (some) watches online via their website. Notable is the sale of Tag Heuer watches online. Whether or not related to rapidly changing business environment of watch sales that prior to 2000 (or so) was more or less the same for 100 years, Tourneau's CEO of 18 years Howard Levitt will step down at the end of 2009.

His term might end sooner, as he will stick around until the company finds a replacement which might come earlier than the end of the year. Tourneau really became a focal point of luxury watch brands having such a vast presence all over the world, and having so many different brands for sale (which differ by location). Levitt was of course instrumental in that fact. Not sure if he was also responsible for Tourneau's in-house brand of less expensive watches which sort of serve as a consolation item to people who step in to the store not able to afford most of the popular brand watches but still wanting something.

Ariel Adams publishes the luxury watch review site aBlogtoRead.com.

Tags: ceo, howard levitt, HowardLevitt, store, timepieces, tourneau, watches

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