Ricardo Guadelupe is the new Honorary President of Hublot
It is the season for business shake-ups it would appear. Following news of Richemont reshuffling their leadership with Nicholas Bos stepping into the revived role of CEO in May, now LVMH watches division have also announced a changing of the guard. Richemont and LVMH are two of the largest luxury brand management groups in the world and while these new appointments likely won’t have an immediate impact on the watches on your wrist, they will inevitably affect the long term direction of the brands.
Focussing on the LVMH appointments, the instigating factor can be traced to Hublot. After 20 years at the top of the company as managing director and then CEO, Ricardo Guadelupe has decided to step back from operational management. Instead he will take up the role of Honorary President of Hublot. Of course, a power vacuum must be filled, which leads into the next appointment.
Julien Tornare is appointed the new CEO of Hublot
Julien Tornare will replace Ricardo as CEO of Hublot. Tornare is currently the CEO of Tag Heuer and will be moving on after holding the position for only 6-months at the sporty brand. Evidently he is the current favoured son of LVMH, seeing him move up the ladder from Zenith to Tag to Hublot in such rapid succession.
Antoine Pin is appointed the new CEO of Tag Heuer
Replacing Tornare as CEO at Tag Heuer will be Antoine Pin, the managing director of Bulgari. At first it seems like an odd appointment to me as Bulgari and Tag Heuer have very different branding and styles. However, when you think about the recent celebration of the sporty Bulgari Aluminium there is actually a closer relationship between Tag Heuer and Bulgari than is immediately apparent.
These changes of leadership take effect from September 1, 2024, meaning there is still a few months until they are implemented. It will be interesting to see how these appointments affect their brands, especially during a period where the watch industry appears to be slowing down after the peak of 2020-2022.
More details at Tag Heuer.
