An investor from the U.S. sought to join the board of directors at the Swatch Group. However, shareholders, led by the Hayek family, have prevailed.
The Biel-based Swatch Group has fended off an attack by an American investor for the second time.
At the annual general meeting (AGM) of shareholders held today, Tuesday, Andreas Rickenbacher was elected as a new member of the board of directors with 92.2 percent of the vote, the watch company announced the same day following the conclusion of the AGM.
Local Over International
The Hayek family had proposed Rickenbacher as their representative on the supervisory board, as reported by muula.ch.
Rickenbacher is a Swiss business economist who served as a Social Democratic Party (SP) member of the Bern cantonal government from 2006 to 2016. Prior to that, he worked as an entrepreneur and consultant.
The proposal by the bearer shareholders to elect U.S. investor Steven Wood to the Board of Directors as their representative, however, was rejected by the General Meeting with 79.6 percent of the vote.
Of course, the Hayeks alone hold around 44 percent of the votes.
Bearer Shareholders Wanted Wood
The Swatch Group emphasized that this would mark Wood’s second consecutive defeat after 2025.
The statement went on to say that shareholders had clearly rejected his election as the representative of bearer shareholders on the Board of Directors for the second time.
However, according to media reports, Wood had previously prevailed over Rickenbacher as the clear representative of bearer shareholders.
“Dictate” of the bylaws
The Hayeks, however, effectively ignored this stipulation.
In accordance with the bylaws, the Board of Directors once again appointed Jean-Pierre Roth as the long-standing and experienced representative of bearer shareholders on the Board, explained the watch group, which owns brands such as Swatch, Tissot, Omega, Mido, Longines, and Breguet & Co.
“One member of the Board of Directors shall be appointed as a representative of the registered shareholders and one as a representative of the bearer shareholders,” read the relevant passage in the Articles of Association.
However, the General Meeting may reject a candidate ‘for good cause’, and the Hayeks regularly do so with the “attacker.”
ISS and Ethos on His Side
For Wood, who had prepared himself and his New York-based investment firm, Greenwood Investors, much more thoroughly for the Swatch Group’s virtual AGM this time around, this is a bitter defeat.
In addition to securing a seat on the board of directors, he had hoped to bring about a strategic shift at the struggling watchmaker amid the industry crisis.
For outsiders, the approximately 24 tons of gold registered on the watchmaker’s balance sheet are of interest. They are still listed in the books ‘at cost’ and thus represent massive hidden reserves.
But, after two attempts, the American is unlikely to give up his campaign. This time, he has already found proxy advisors, such as ISS and the Ethos Investment Foundation, who have joined him.
It therefore remains to be seen what will happen at next year’s AGM.
May 12, 2026/kut./ena.
