The Boards

Nayla Hayek, Swiss citizen, Dr h.c. European University Montreux, Montreux, is Chairwoman of the Board of Directors of the Swatch Group since June 30, 2010. Mrs Nayla Hayek has been on the Board of Directors of the Swatch Group since 1995. As a member of the World Arabian Horse Organization (WAHO), and as international Arabian horse judge, Mrs Hayek’s top-level contacts contribute to many of the business and promotional activities of the Swatch Group and she is responsible for the local organization in Dubai (Swatch Group Middle East) on site. Mrs Hayek is Chairwoman of the Board of Directors of the Rivoli Group, Dubai and represents there the interests of Swatch Group. Following the acquisition of Harry Winston as per 26.03.2013, Mrs Hayek was appointed president and CEO of this new business entity. She is also a member of the Board of Directors of Belenos Clean Power Holding Ltd. As Board member of the Hayek Holding AG, she is responsible for Hayek Engineering AG, Hayek Immobilien AG and Hayek France SA. She holds no official function or political office.

Ernst Tanner, Swiss citizen, has been on the Board of Directors of the Swatch Group since 1995. He has been Vice-Chairman of the Board of Directors since June 29, 2011. Mr Tanner is Chairman and Delegate of the Board of the Lindt & Sprüngli Group. Before his activity with Lindt & Sprüngli, he was for over 25 years in leading management positions with the Johnson & Johnson Group in Europe and the USA, ending up as Company Group Chairman Europe. In addition, he is a member of the Board of Directors of the German Krombacher Brauerei GmbH & Co. KG and of the Advisory Board of the Austrian SIGNA Group. Otherwise, he exercises no other executive or advisory functions and holds no official function or political office.

Daniela Aeschlimann, a Swiss national, has been a member of the Swatch Group Board of Directors since 2016. Ms Aeschlimann studied Business Economics and graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Lucerne University of Applied Sciences. In 2016, she successfully completed an Executive MBA at the University of St. Gallen. Since 2010, she has been a member of the Board of Directors of the Avesco Group and since 2013, has also served as the Board’s vice-president. Ms Aeschlimann serves on several other boards of directors and trustees including, notably, a seat on the Board of Directors of Belenos Clean Power Holding SA that she has held since 2014.

Nick Hayek, Swiss citizen, pursued two years’ study at the University of St. Gallen (HSG), then attended the Film Academy CLCF in Paris. President of the Executive Group Management Board since 2003 and member of the Board of Directors since 2010. Mr Hayek has worked with the Swatch Group since 1992, firstly as Swatch Ltd Marketing Manager, then as Swatch Ltd President and finally as Delegate of the Board of Directors of Swatch Ltd. In the mid-eighties, he founded his own production company, Sesame Films in Paris, and worked in Switzerland and abroad. His involvement in a number of film productions (e. g. a series of documentaries for Swiss Television), then the production of a number of short films (e. g. 1st prize at the Thessaloniki Film Festival, an official contribution to the Cannes Film Festival, etc.) and his activity as producer and manager of two feature films, «Das Land von Wilhelm Tell» and «Family Express» with Peter Fonda (a film that earned him the prize for the best Swiss comedy at the Charlie Chaplin Comedy Film Festival in Vevey) resulted in his being called upon to advise on various Swatch projects in the early ‘90s and to assume responsibility for several Swatch exhibitions (such as that of Lingotto in Turin). Mr Hayek is a member of the Board of Directors of the CSEM (Centre suisse d’électronique et de microtechnique) and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Belenos Clean Power Holding Ltd.

Prof. Dr h. c. Claude Nicollier, Swiss citizen, graduated in Physics and Astrophysics from the Universities of Lausanne and Geneva. Mr Nicollier has been a member of the Board of Directors since 2005. Mr Nicollier resigned from his activities as astronaut at the European Space Agency ESA in March 2007. As an astronaut he was particularly active in the space missions Atlantis 1992, Endeavour 1993, Columbia 1996 and Discovery 1999. The aim of the Endeavour and Discovery missions was the execution of reparation works on the Hubble Space Telescope which were a complete success. The Universities of Geneva and Basel and the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, where Mr Nicollier teaches as an honorary professor at the school of engineering, have conferred honorary doctorates on him. Mr Nicollier is involved in the «Solar Impulse»-Project and was responsible for the test flights. He is member of the Board of Directors of Belenos Clean Power Holding Ltd. and Chairman of the Board of Directors of CSEM in Neuchâtel. Mr Nicollier does not exercise any operative functions at Swatch Group, does not have any business relationship with Swatch Group and holds no political office.

Dr Jean-Pierre Roth, Swiss citizen, Dr oec. Graduate Institute (HEI) Geneva, has been a member of the Board of Directors since 2010. Following postgraduate studies at the Massachussetts Institute of Technology in the USA, Mr Roth taught at the University of Geneva and at the Graduate Institute (HEI). In 2009 the University of Neuchâtel conferred him a honorary doctorate in economics. Jean-Pierre Roth joined the Swiss National Bank in 1979 where he was active in various areas in Zürich and Bern. On May 1, 1996 he was appointed Vicepresident of the board. On January 1, 2001 he was elected President of the board. Jean-Pierre Roth was Swiss governor of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Washington. From March 1, 2006 until end of February 2009 he was Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Bank of International Settlements (BIZ) in Basel. At the end of 2009, Mr Roth resigned as President of the Swiss National Bank. Mr Jean-Pierre Roth was elected as President of the «Banque cantonale de Genève» and member of the Board of Swiss Re and of Nestlé Ltd in 2010. In 2014, he was elected as member of the Board of MKS (Switzerland). Since then, Mr Roth retired from the Board of Swiss Re and the «Banque cantonale de Genève». Since July 1, 2017, Mr Roth acts as Vice President of the Arab Bank (Switzerland) Ltd.

Nick Hayek, Swiss citizen, pursued two years’ study at the University of St. Gallen (HSG), then attended the Film Academy CLCF in Paris. President of the Executive Group Management Board since 2003 and member of the Board of Directors since 2010, Mr Hayek has worked with the Swatch Group since 1992, firstly as Swatch Ltd Marketing Manager, then as Swatch Ltd President and finally as Delegate of the Board of Directors of Swatch Ltd. In the mid-eighties, he founded his own production company, Sesame Films in Paris, and worked in Switzerland and abroad. His involvement in a number of film productions (e. g. a series of documentaries for Swiss Television), then the production of a number of short films (e. g. 1st prize at the Thessaloniki Film Festival, an official contribution to the Cannes Film Festival, etc.) and his activity as producer and manager of two feature films, «Das Land von Wilhelm Tell» and «Family Express» with Peter Fonda (a film that earned him the prize for the best Swiss comedy at the Charlie Chaplin Comedy Film Festival in Vevey) resulted in his being called upon to advise on various Swatch projects in the early ‘90s and to assume responsibility for several Swatch exhibitions (such as that of Lingotto in Turin). Mr Hayek is a member of the Board of Directors of the CSEM (Centre suisse d’électronique et de microtechnique) and of Belenos Clean Power Holding Ltd.

Florence Ollivier-Lamarque, French citizen, is a lawyer and has been a member of the Extended Group Management Board since 1992 and of the Executive Group Management Board since 2005. She is responsible for the watch brand Flik Flak. She has been with the Group since 1988 when it took over the Société Inthor, Paris, which distributed some of the Group’s watches in France. At that time, she worked as Swatch and Tissot Brand Manager. In 1990, she took over the management of Swatch Group France and in 2002 the management of Swatch Group France Les Boutiques. She is member of Board of the Colbert Committee, Paris.

Pierre-André Bühler, Swiss citizen, technical education, member of the Extended Group Management Board since 2008 and of the Executive Group Management Board since 2013, responsible for ETA. Mr Bühler started his career within the Group in 1977 as manager of the industrialisation division at Michel SA in Grenchen. Later Mr Bühler held executive functions at ETA (Technical manager of the division Michel) and at Nivarox (Production manager). Before taking over the general management of ETA, Mr Bühler worked as managing director of Nivarox-Far (Le Locle). He represents the Swatch Group on the Executive Board of the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry FH and is a member of the Board of Directors of CSEM.

Dr Mougahed Darwish, Swiss citizen, holds a doctorate in Physics from the ETHL. He has been a member of the Extended Group Management Board since 1994 and of the Executive Group Management Board since 2005, responsible for EM Microelectronic, Micro Crystal, Renata and Oscilloquartz. Mr Darwish has been with the Group since 1979, starting as Project Manager for the Xicor-Ébauches joint venture. Previously, he had been active in research and development for the Centre électronique horloger (CEH, today Centre Suisse de l’électronique et de microtechnique SA, CSEM). From 1985 to 2007 he managed EM Microelectronic as CEO. Mr Darwish represents the Group on the Board of Directors and the Science Council of the CSEM as well as on the Board of FLRH; he is a member of the Swiss Academy of Technical Science. Since 2008, Mr Darwish actively accompanies the project Belenos Clean Power; since July 2010 he is a delegate of the Board of Directors of Belenos Clean Power Holding AG and since 2015 also the Vice Chairman of this body.

Marc Alexander Hayek, Swiss citizen, Dr h.c. European University Montreux, Montreux, holds a bachelor degree in Economics and has undergone training in Marketing and Economics. He became a member of the Extended Group Management Board in 2002 and of the Executive Group Management Board in 2005 with responsibility for Blancpain, the Caribbean, CHH Microtechnique and furthermore, since July 2010 for Breguet and Jaquet Droz. Since August 2017, Mr Hayek is also a member of the Board of Directors of Belenos Clean Power Holding Ltd. He joined Blancpain as Marketing Manager in 2001. Mr Hayek had previously worked as an independent entrepreneur (Restaurant Colors, Zurich) and had been employed by Swatch in the PR area and by Certina in marketing.

Dr Thierry Kenel, Swiss citizen, holds a doctorate in Economics, a degree in Mechanical Engineering and a postgraduate degree in Management of Technology. As a Member of the Extended Group Management Board since 2009 and of the Executive Group Management Board since 2012, he is responsible for Corporate Finance, Reporting, Investor Relations, IT, Swatch Group Belgium, Swatch Group Netherlands, Swatch Group Greece and Swatch Group South Africa. Mr Kenel has been with the Swatch Group since 2003, first as Group Controller in the business segment Electronic Systems and subsequently as head of Finance, IT and Administration at Montres Breguet SA. Prior to joining the Swatch Group, Mr Kenel was a lecturer and researcher in the field of economics at the University of Lausanne; earlier, he was a member of the Board of Directors and the management of the Flumroc-Spoerry group of companies. Mr Kenel represents the Swatch Group in the Board of economiesuisse, the Convention Patronale and in the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry FH, where he presides over the Economic Commission. Mr Kenel continues to be a private lecturer of Finance and Financial Reporting at the University of Lausanne (HEC) as well as at the Swiss Institute of Certified Accountants and Tax Consultants. He is also a member of the Liaison Committee University-Industry at the University of Lausanne (HEC).

François Thiébaud, French citizen, studied at the ICG Institut Contrôle de Gestion, Paris and Law at the University of Besançon, and he has been a member of the Extended Group Management Board since 1998 and of the Executive Group Management Board since 2006, with responsibility for Tissot, Mido, Certina as well as Swatch Group Brazil and the Swiss market. He joined the Swatch Group in 1996 as President of Tissot. Previously, he had been active as Delegate of the Board of Directors of Juvenia and Manager of Breitling. He represents the Group in the AMS Association des fournisseurs d’horlogerie, marché suisse (Chairman), he is member of the Baselworld Consulting Committee and President of the Baselworld Swiss Exhibitors Committee.

Raynald Aeschlimann, Swiss citizen, graduated with a degree in economics and an M.A. from the University of St. Gallen (HSG). He was appointed to the Swatch Group’s Extended Group Management Board in 2013. Since 2016 Mr. Aeschlimann is President of Omega Ltd. Prior to that, he was Vice President and International Director of Sales, Retail and Distribution at Omega Ltd. since 2001. He joined Omega in 1996 as Sales and Marketing Project Manager. He was also Brand Manager of Omega and Blancpain Spain in 2000 and has been the Group Coordinator for the Swatch Group’s Indian subsidiary since 2010, and for Swatch Group France since 2019. Mr. Aeschlimann is on the Executive Board of the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry FH. He had previously worked at Longines and Complementa AG in St. Gallen from 1992 to 1996.

Matthias Breschan, Austrian citizen, graduated from the Vienna School of Economics, has been a member of the Extended Group Management Board since 2005 and is responsible for Rado, Hamilton, for Swatch Group Mexico and Swatch Group Austria. Mr Breschan manages Rado since January 1, 2011. Before he managed Hamilton for seven years and worked as Area Sales Manager for three years at Swatch Telecom. Between his activity for Hamilton and Swatch Telecom he was Managing Director of Aldi in France (Aldi Marché Est). Before joining Swatch Group Mr Breschan worked for Texas Instruments and Alcatel Mobile Phones in the product marketing, international marketing and sales areas.

Yann Gamard, French citizen, holds an MBA from Lausanne and has been a member of the Extended Group Management Board since 1998, responsible for Swatch Group Germany, Swatch Group UK and Ireland, and Swatch Group Nordic (Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Norway) as well as the distribution logistics for watches in Europe and worldwide for the batteries. He joined the Swatch Group in 1995 (Swatch AG). He subsequently assumed responsibility for the telecom business of the Swatch Group and was thereafter appointed as Country Manager for the USA, responsible for Hamilton and later on for Glashütte Original, as well as for further European countries. Before joining the Group, Mr Gamard held various roles with Procter & Gamble and Cartier.

Hans-Rudolf Gottier, Swiss citizen, holds an electrical engineering degree from the University of Applied Sciences (HES) in Biel/Bienne and is a member of the Swatch Group’s Extended Management Board since 2013, where he is responsible for the segment Electronic Systems. Mr Gottier began his career in Swatch Group in 1980 as head engineer of the quartz production. Since 1990, he is the CEO of Micro Crystal Ltd. During this period, Micro Crystal was developed from being an internal quartz supplier for the watch business to being a worldwide quartz supplier. Over the recent years, Mr Gottier has led various companies within Swatch Group Electronic Systems and completed their restructuring. Prior to joining Swatch Group, Mr Gottier worked in South America where he was responsible for the technical implementation in connection with the importation of large machinery and installations.

Walter von Känel, Swiss citizen, with a commercial training, has been member of the Extended Group Management Board since 1991, with responsibility for Longines. He entered Longines in 1969 and became its President in 1988. Before joining Swatch Group Mr von Känel worked for a watch-dial factory and with the Federal Customs Administration. Mr von Känel is a member of the «Conseil du Jura Bernois».

Calogero Polizzi, Italian citizen, holds a diploma in information technology from the Industrial Technical Institute L. Cobianchi in Verbania, Italy. He was appointed to the Swatch Group’s Extended Group Management Board in 2013. Since 2017, he is responsible for the software aspects of the new Swiss Operating Systems of IoT (Internet of Things). And since January 2019 Mr Polizzi is also President of the Swatch Group Italy. He was responsible for the IT systems at Swatch Group since his appointment as CIO (Chief Information Officer) in 2005 and was a member of the management of The Swatch Group Services Ltd. Previously he worked as IT Manager at Swatch Group Italy and as Head of IT at The Swatch Group Distribution LTD. Between his activities for Swatch Group Italy and Swatch Group Distribution he was Chief Information Officer at Tod’s S.p.A. Before joining Swatch Group, Mr Polizzi worked at Whirlpool where he was engaged in various information technology positions at the international level.

Kevin Rollenhagen, American citizen, graduated in Economics (BA) at the Michigan State University, has been a member of the Extended Group Management Board since 2005 and is responsible for Swatch Group China and Swatch Group Taiwan, Swatch Group Australia and Country Manager of Swatch Group Macau and Swatch Group Hong Kong (he represented these countries from 2000 onwards in the Extended Group Management). Mr Rollenhagen joined Swatch Group in 1989. He started his career as trainee at Tissot and became Regional Sales Manager for Tissot and Omega. Since 1994 he has been active in Hong Kong and China (first as Brand Manager Omega). Before joining Swatch Group Mr Rollenhagen worked with Caterpillar in sales. Mr Rollenhagen represents Swatch Group in the Hong Kong Watch Importers Association where he acts as Treasurer.

Dr Peter Steiger, Swiss citizen, who has a doctorate in Public Economics, has been a member of the Extended Group Management Board since 2002, with responsibility for The Swatch Group Corporate Controlling and Logistics as well as Swatch Group Malaysia, Swatch Group Singapore, Swatch Group Indonesia and Swatch Group US. He started his career with the Group in 1989 as Head of Finance and Administration with PC Quartz. Later, Mr Steiger held leading finance and logistics positions within various Group companies (among others Swatch and Longines). Before joining the Swatch Group, he had worked with international groups in Switzerland and abroad (Shell, Philips).