Nicolas hayek biography

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Credited with saving the Swiss watchmaking sector from near collapse in the 1980s through bold innovation and the launch of the affordable, stylish Swatch brand, Hayek transformed a traditional craft into a modern, mass-market powerhouse.

Profile

• Full Name: Nicolas George Hayek
• Stage Name: Nicolas Hayek
• Born: 19, February 1928
• Date of death: 28, June 2010 (Aged: 82 years old)
• Birthplace: Beirut, Lebanon
• Nationality: Swiss-Lebanese
• Occupation: Businessman, Industrialist, and Consultant
• Height: Unknown
• Parents: Mr.

  Hayek and Mrs. Hayek

• Siblings: Unknown
• Spouse: Marianne Mezger (m. Representatives from major international corporations sought Hayek's expertise. Message and Muscle: An Interview with Swatch Titan Nicolas Hayek
• Wall Street Journal Interview, June 2010. Two years later, he was awarded another doctorate from the University of Bologna in Italy.

  Although the colorful plastic watch became quickly known for its flamboyant marketing, Hayek always emphasized that the Swatch watch was first and foremost a technological breakthrough.

  Having spearheaded the reorganization of ASUAG and SSIH for more than four years, finally bringing about their merger, Hayek, with a group of Swiss investors, took over a majority shareholding in the new group in 1985.

  On June 28, 2010, Hayek passed away from a sudden heart attack at the headquarters of 'Swatch Group' in Biel. The strategies he developed in the early 1980s led to the success of the entire Swiss watch industry and regained its leading position worldwide since 1984.

  Hayek is also credited with having a fundamental role in the creation of the Smart Car, a small European car created for inner city use by Mercedes Benz.

  Hayek lived in the commune of Meisterschwanden, located 35 kilometers west of Zurich, until his death.

  In 1996, Nicolas Hayek received an honorary doctorate in law and economics from the University of Neuchatel in Switzerland. "ASUAG for example owned more than 100 separate companies - some big, some small, some modern, some backward. He then held a management position at his father-in-law's engineering company; however, he soon left the position to pursue new opportunities.

  Hayek was Chairman of the Board and CEO of Hayek Engineering from its founding until his death.

  In the early 1980s, Hayek was asked by a group of Swiss bankers to oversee a liquidation of ASUAG and SSIH, two Swiss watch-making firms which were in turmoil due to heavy competition from Japanese watch manufacturers such as Seiko and Citizen Watch. The merged company was initially named Société Suisse de Microélectronique et d'Horlogerie, or SMH.

  It later changed its name to Swatch Group.

  Hayek played a decisive role in the recovery of the Swatch Group with its watch brands Swatch, Blancpain, Omega, Longines, Rado, Tissot, Certina, Mido, Hamilton, Pierre Balmain, Calvin Klein, Flik Flak, Breguet and Lanco. He soon relinquished this position to search for an opportunity "to learn something new every day".

  In 1963, Hayek founded his own management consulting firm, the Zurich-based Hayek Engineering.

  Nicolas Hayek: Time Bandit

• EXERO The Watchmen Video Interview, March 2010. Original names for the car revolved around the Swatch name — and even today aspects of the car such as its interchangeable body panels are clearly linked with the Swatch philosophy of individuality. The Swatch watch helped the Swiss watch industry reconquer a large share of the lower end of the watch market which it had lost to Japanese makers.

  NOTICE!! We value your feedback and are committed to maintaining trustworthy content. Hayek believed that the Swiss watch manufacturing industry could remain competitive and that ASUAG/SSIH could recover after a restructuring of operations and a repositioning of the different brands.

  Hayek identified problems in products, policies and distribution as well as outdated leadership that needed to be changed.