Nayla Hayek, the 59-year-old daughter of Swatch Group founder Nicolas Hayek, has been appointed chairman of the company’s board of directors.
According to an official statement from Swatch, Ms Hayek has been “prepared for this function during the past years and has longstanding experience within the Board of Directors”.
Nicolas Hayek passed away on June 28 “due to heart failure during work at his beloved Swatch Group”.
The 82-year-old is famous around the world for launching the Swatch watch and saving the Swiss watch industry from the barrage of Japanese quartz watches in the 1980s.
Speaking after Nicolas’ death, Swiss Watch Industry Federation president Jean-Daniel Pasche told www.swissinfo.ch that “we have lost a great personality and entrepreneur of our industry”.
“I remain quite confident in the future because Hayek’s enthusiasm will remain,” he said.