The Wall Street Journal has exposed a dispute between the Hayek family, which founded Swatch in 1983, and US fund manager and investor Steven Wood.
The report reveals that Wood invested one-quarter of his $USD150 million fund in Swatch in 2024 following an upbeat face-to-face meeting with CEO Nick Hayek in 2024.
“Wood, who runs investment firm GreenWood Investors, reached out to Nick Hayek, the founder’s son, in September,” writes Margot Patrick.
“The next month, the New York-based investor secured a meeting with the CEO and the finance chief at Swatch’s timber-framed headquarters in Biel, Switzerland, where they talked for more than two hours over coffee.
“Wood says they discussed marketing strategies, particularly for the high-end brands, and how the company, known for its minimal contact with investors, should share more information.”
Wood argues that the company could better emphasise scarcity and exclusivity with comparisons to luxury brands such as Hermès and Ferrari. He also suggests that collaborations with designers and celebrities would appeal to younger consumers.
While these are far from revolutionary ideas, this newfound friendship turned somewhat sour in March when Wood submitted himself as a board candidate to represent the company’s minority shareholders.
The report claims that Nick Hayek stopped responding to Wood’s notes. Swatch chairwoman Nayla Hayek responded to a letter but declined to meet. Marc Hayek, president of Blancpain and Breguet, agreed to meet; however, he suggested a date eight months away.
Ahead of Swatch’s annual meeting, the board urged shareholders to vote against Wood because he isn’t Swiss, suggesting that his lack of understanding of corporate culture would be an issue.
Wood received 62 per cent support from minority shareholders; however, only 19.7 per cent overall because of a dual-class structure, as the Hayek family has 45 per cent of voting power.
The report continues: “Wood’s lawyers have since written to Swatch to complain that the vote wasn’t carried out correctly and violated the rights of minority shareholders.”
“The lawyers claim that minority shareholders should have gotten to approve their candidate before the broader vote and that the wider shareholder base didn’t have grounds to reject him.
“Swatch said the vote followed the legally correct procedure.”
The report concludes by revealing that Wood is building support to call for another vote.
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