Nicolas G. Hayek
A management consultant who drew up the 1983 plan to merge the failing Swiss watch groups ASUAG and SSIH and launch the Swatch, then ran the merged company, later the Swatch Group, until his death in 2010.
Born 1928, Died 2010
Companies Breguet
In the history Crisis, consolidation and the groups
A consultant called in
Hayek came to watches from outside the trade, as a management consultant: he founded the Hayek Group and was running Hayek Engineering when, around 1980, he began advising the two failing Swiss watch groups, SSIH and ASUAG, which faced liquidation.1, 3
His study of 1983 called for merging the two companies and for a cheap, high-tech “second watch”: the Swatch. A pool of investors he led took a majority of the merged company, and he became its chief executive.1, 2, 3
Running the group
He chaired the board from 1986 until 2010. Under him SMH, renamed the Swatch Group in 1998, bought Blancpain in 1992 and Breguet in 1999, and he took personal charge of Breguet as its chief executive.1, 2, 7
Outside watches he set up Belenos Clean Power in 2008 to work on solar energy, batteries and electric drives. The universities of Neuchâtel and Bologna gave him honorary doctorates, and Biel/Bienne, where the group has its head office, made him an honorary citizen.1, 2, 8
He died at work in 2010. His son Nick Hayek had been the group’s chief executive since 2003, his daughter Nayla Hayek took the chair of the board, and his grandson Marc A. Hayek took over Breguet. The museum foundation in Glashütte, set up in 2006, carries his name, the German Watch Museum says.1, 2, 7, 9
Where Nicolas G. Hayek leads
- Founded, GroupThe Swatch Group
The Swatch Group calls Hayek its founder: his 1983 study recommended merging ASUAG and SSIH and launching the Swatch.1
- Part of, HistoryCrisis, consolidation and the groups
The consultant the banks hired, who merged SSIH and ASUAG.11, 12, 13
- See also, CompanyBreguet
After the Swatch Group bought Breguet in 1999, Hayek became its chief executive.7
- See also, PlaceBiel/Bienne
He merged Biel's ASUAG with SSIH in 1983, with the banks' help.11, 14
- See also, PlaceGlashütte
The museum says the foundation behind the German Watch Museum in Glashütte, set up in 2006, carries Hayek’s name.9
- See also, GroupASUAG
Hayek Engineering of Zurich was asked in 1982 to analyse ASUAG, the study that led to the merger.15, 16
- See also, EventThe ETA supply dispute
Hayek gave the reasons for the decision of 2002, overwhelming orders and ébauches in fake watches, and in 2009 announced that the group would stop delivering parts.17, 18, 19
- See also, EventThe quartz crisis
The crisis Hayek was brought in to solve, with a merger and the Swatch.1, 2
Facts and sources
- Born
- 19281, 3
- Died
- 20101, 2, 3
- Founded
- SMH, later The Swatch Group, from 1985 (his firm advised the banks from 1982)1, 11, 15
Sources
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
23. Internationales Management-Gespräch: Nicolas G. Hayek (opens in a new tab)
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
- 10
Memorial to Nicolas G. Hayek in Biel/Bienne, photographed in 2024. (opens in a new tab)
- 11
- 12
- 13
- 14
- 15
- 16
- 17
Swatch, ETA agree to provide watch parts until 2008 (6 December 2004) (opens in a new tab)
- 18
Watch firm agrees to supply competitors (19 November 2004) (opens in a new tab)
- 19
Watchmaking giants face off in ten-year dispute (26 August 2013) (opens in a new tab)
Sources read November 12, 2026.