• Source: Georges Kern

Georges Kern (born 25 January 1965) is a German-Swiss businessman, who has been CEO of Swiss watchmaker Breitling since 2017. He studied Political Science in Strasbourg, France, and graduated in Business Administration from the University of St. Gallen, Switzerland. He acquired experience in the fast-moving-consumer-goods sector at Kraft Foods Switzerland before moving to the watch industry.




Career


In 2000, he joined the Richemont Group, the Swiss luxury goods group, and integrated the A. Lange & Söhne, Jaeger-LeCoultre, and International Watch Company (IWC) brands following their acquisition.
In 2002, at the age of 36, he became the youngest CEO at Richemont when he was chosen to run IWC Schaffhausen.
In 2017, he was promoted to Head of Watchmaking, Marketing and Digital at Richemont and focused on supervising the Specialist Watchmaking Maisons.
In 2017, Georges Kern was appointed the new CEO of the independent watch company Breitling SA, where he is also a shareholder. The British investment group CVC acquired 80 percent of the shares in Breitling in April 2017, with 20 percent of the shares remaining in the hands of the brand's previous owners, the Schneider family. This remained the case until November 2018 when these shares were sold to CVC. In his new position, Georges Kern's mission is to foster the global development of one of the world's most established watch manufacturers. He will also focus on developing Breitling's digital and retail footprint, particularly with a view to accelerating growth in the key Asian markets.
Georges Kern served as a member of the Young Global Leaders at the World Economic Forum from 2005 to 2010 and became Founding Curator of the Global Shapers Community in Zurich in 2011. He is currently a member of the Board of Directors of the Swiss American Chamber of Commerce.




Philanthropy


Alongside his corporate objectives, Kern also supports a range of charitable causes. He was on the Board of Trustees of the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation, which helps young people to overcome their social problems through sport. Georges Kern was also a patron of the Fondation Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, Fondation Antoine de Saint-Exupéry pour la Jeunesse, which supports disadvantaged young people on their path to adulthood.Georges Kern counts active climate protection as one of his corporate responsibilities. At his initiative, IWC was certified as a carbon neutral company and Breitling has announced a partnership with Ocean Conservancy, an NGO dedicated to leading the global fight for healthy oceans and clean beaches.




Works


Kern, Georges A. "Engineering the Intangible: Strategic Success Factors in the Luxury Watch Industry" (pages 153–180), Evolving Business Models. How CEOs Transform Traditional Companies, Springer International Publishing (2017) Editors: Franz, Christoph, Bieger, Thomas, Herrmann, Andreas (Eds.)




Film Production


Georges Kern realized one of his passions when he produced the French comedy My Dog Stupid, based on the cult novel by John Fante. It marked Kern's debut as a film producer and starred Yvan Attal along with Charlotte Gainsbourg, Ben Attal, Pascale Arbillot, Adèle Wismes, Pablo Venzal, Eric Ruf, and Sébastien Thiery. The film was released on October 31, 2019.




Further reading


Watch brands move business online to beat lockdown - Financial Times
"Letter: A fine mechanical watch will outlive its owner" - Financial Times
«Breitling ist vom Macho-Image weggekommen» - nzz
Interview de Georges Kern - Worldtempus
On the Road With Georges Kern of Breitling - New York Times
Georges Kern: «Breitling ne peut être cantonné à l'aviation» - Le Figaro
Raus aus der Nische: Georges Kern über die Zukunft von Breitling - Luxify
Inside Breitling s asia business strategy with CEO Georges Kern - Bloomberg
„Die Uhrenbranche spürt wieder Rückenwind“ - Handelsblatt
Georges Kern: CEO Breitling - GMT Mag
Breitling-CEO Kern: «Emotionalität bleibt, Visionen sind gefragt» - Finanz und wirtschaft




References



[1]

Kata Kunci Pencarian:

• K.M.S.K. Deinze
• The Unfish
• Swing Time (film)
• My Dog Stupid
• Sinema Swiss
• Charles Munch (konduktor)
• Hukum Stigler
• Mahkamah Agung Federal Swiss
• Kromium
• Aleksandr Pushkin
• Georges Kern
• George Kern
• George M. Kerns
• Derby pie
• Breitling SA
• George J. Kern
• Georg Baselitz
• The Seventh Continent (1989 film)
• Jerome Kern
• Bakersfield, California