Nicolas George Hayek (19 February 1928 – 28 June 2010), was a Swiss businessman of Lebanese descent, and the co-founder, CEO and Chairman of the Board of
The Swatch Group
The Swatch Group Ltd is a Swiss manufacturer of watches and jewellery. The company was founded in 1983 by the merger of ASUAG
Allgemeine Schweizerische Uhrenindustrie AG (ASUAG; French: ''Société Générale de l'Horlogerie Suisse SA'') was t ...
.
Early life and education
Hayek was born the second of three children, to
Lebanese parents from
Greek Orthodox Christian Lebanese families. His father trained as a
dentist
A dentist, also known as a dental surgeon, is a health care professional who specializes in dentistry (the diagnosis, prevention, management, and treatment of diseases and conditions of the mouth, oral cavity and other aspects of the craniofaci ...
at
Loyola University Chicago
Loyola University Chicago (Loyola or LUC) is a private Jesuit research university in Chicago, Illinois. Founded in 1870 by the Society of Jesus, Loyola is one of the largest Catholic
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Cathol ...
. He had an older sister, Mona, and a younger brother, Sam. Hayek studied mathematics, physics, and chemistry at the
University of Lyon
The University of Lyon (french: Université de Lyon), located in Lyon and Saint-Étienne, France, is a center for higher education and research comprising 11 members and 24 associated institutions. The three main universities in this center are: ...
.
Personal life
Hayek met Marianne Mezger, an
au pair
An au pair (; plural: au pairs) is a helper from a foreign country working for, and living as part of, a host family. Typically, au pairs take on a share of the family's responsibility for childcare as well as some housework, and receive a monet ...
and the daughter of Swiss industrialist Eduard Mezger, in
Beirut
Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...
in 1950. They married in 1951 and moved to Switzerland. They had two children,
Nayla and
G. Nicolas "Nick" Jr. In 1964, the family moved to
Meisterschwanden
Meisterschwanden is a municipality in the district of Lenzburg in the canton of Aargau in Switzerland.
History
There were two neolithic lake side settlements, at ''Seerose'' and ''Erlenhölzli'', near the modern Meisterschwanden. Both sites ...
, a village west of
Zürich
Zürich () is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zürich. It is located in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zürich. As of January 2020, the municipality has 43 ...
. Hayek lived there for the rest of his life. Hayek was awarded the title of Doctor honoris causa of Law and Economics of the Faculty of ''Beni Culturali'' of the
University of Bologna
The University of Bologna ( it, Alma Mater Studiorum – Università di Bologna, UNIBO) is a public research university in Bologna, Italy. Founded in 1088 by an organised guild of students (''studiorum''), it is the oldest university in continuo ...
(Italy) in June 1998, after being awarded doctor honoris causa of Law and Economics of the
University of Neuchatel
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...
in 1996.
In the year of his death, 2010, Hayek had an estimated net worth of $3.9 billion.
Early career
Hayek worked as an
actuary
An actuary is a business professional who deals with the measurement and management of risk and uncertainty. The name of the corresponding field is actuarial science. These risks can affect both sides of the balance sheet and require asset man ...
for
Swiss Re
Swiss Reinsurance Company Ltd,
Swiss Re. Retrieved on 18 January 2011. "Swiss Reinsurance Company Ltd ("Swiss Re") ...
, before briefly managing his ailing father-in-law's engineering company.
Hayek Engineering
Hayek founded Hayek Engineering, a
management consulting
Management consulting is the practice of providing consulting services to organizations to improve their performance or in any way to assist in achieving organizational objectives. Organizations may draw upon the services of management consultant ...
firm, in
Zürich
Zürich () is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zürich. It is located in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zürich. As of January 2020, the municipality has 43 ...
in 1963. He advised successful turnarounds at several of Europe's largest companies. One of his management credos was: "The rarest resources are entrepreneurial types in top management." Hayek Engineering had more than 300 clients in 30 countries by 1979.
Swatch Group
![Swatch Once Again](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2d/Swatch_Once_Again.jpg)
In the early 1980s a group of Swiss banks asked Hayek to oversee the liquidation of
ASUAG
Allgemeine Schweizerische Uhrenindustrie AG (ASUAG; French: ''Société Générale de l'Horlogerie Suisse SA'') was the former biggest Swiss Watch Industry Group that had been created with the assistance of the Swiss Government and the Swiss Banks ...
and
SSIH, two Swiss watch-making firms that were in turmoil due to competition from Japan. Hayek believed the Swiss watch manufacturing industry could be competitive and that restructuring operations and repositioning brands would help ASUAG/SSIH recover.
Hayek identified problems in products, policies, distribution, and leadership. "ASUAG for example owned more than 100 separate companies – some big, some small, some modern, some backward. Most of these companies did their own marketing,
R&D and assembly. It was crazy."
He invested in automation and standardised parts and tooling. This produced
economies of scale
In microeconomics, economies of scale are the cost advantages that enterprises obtain due to their scale of operation, and are typically measured by the amount of output produced per unit of time. A decrease in cost per unit of output enables ...
, improved quality, and allowed production to be centralized.
The restructuring of the companies coincided with the invention of the Swatch watch. Its colorful appearance and marketing helped Switzerland regain a large share of the lower end of the watch market from Japanese makers. Hayek emphasized the Swatch watch was above all a technological breakthrough. The design used almost half the number of parts of a traditional wristwatch to reduce cost without compromising on quality.
After the reorganisation ASUAG and SSIH merged, initially becoming the Société Suisse de Microélectronique et d'Horlogerie. Hayek and Swiss investors bought a majority shareholding in the new group in 1985. Hayek became chairman and
chief executive officer
A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...
in 1986. His business strategies helped the Swiss watch industry regain its market leading position.
Hayek is also credited with a fundamental role in the creation of the
Smart Car
Smart (stylized as smart) is a German automotive marque. Smart Automobile Co., Ltd. is a joint venture established by Mercedes-Benz AG and Zhejiang Geely Holding Group in 2019 and aimed at producing Smart-badged cars in China to be marketed glob ...
with
Mercedes-Benz
Mercedes-Benz (), commonly referred to as Mercedes and sometimes as Benz, is a German luxury and commercial vehicle automotive brand established in 1926. Mercedes-Benz AG (a Mercedes-Benz Group subsidiary established in 2019) is headquartere ...
. The name "Smart" was derived by adding the first letters of Swatch and Mercedes to the word "art".
Hayek's son Nick Jr. became the CEO of the
Swatch Group
The Swatch Group Ltd is a Swiss manufacturer of watches and jewellery. The company was founded in 1983 by the merger of ASUAG and SSIH to move to manufacturing quartz-crystal watches to resolve the quartz crisis threatening the traditional Swi ...
in 2003. Nicholas Hayek remained Chair Swatch Group's board until his death. His daughter Nayla succeeded him as chairperson.
Death
Hayek died of a
cardiac arrest
Cardiac arrest is when the heart suddenly and unexpectedly stops beating. It is a medical emergency that, without immediate medical intervention, will result in sudden cardiac death within minutes. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and possib ...
while working at the Swatch Group headquarters on 28 June 2010.
Press
*''
Harvard Business Review
''Harvard Business Review'' (''HBR'') is a general management magazine published by Harvard Business Publishing, a wholly owned subsidiary of Harvard University. ''HBR'' is published six times a year and is headquartered in Brighton, Massach ...
'', March–April 1993. Message and Muscle: An Interview with Swatch Titan Nicolas Hayek
*''
Wall Street Journal
''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...
'' Interview, June 2010. Nicolas Hayek: Time Bandit
Video
*Video (French), TSR Interview, 1988
*Video, CBC Interview from the 1990s, Part 1
*Video, CBC Interview from the 1990s, Part 2
*Video (French), Q&A with L'Hebdo, May 2009
*Video (French), Pardonnez-moi, L'Interview de Darius Rochebin
*Video (French), TSR News Report, June 2010
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hayek, Nicolas
1928 births
2010 deaths
The Swatch Group
Hayak
Lebanese people of American descent
Eastern Orthodox Christians from Lebanon
Lebanese billionaires
Swiss businesspeople
Lebanese emigrants to Switzerland
People from Koura District
People from Biel/Bienne
Antiochian Greek Christians