Georges Kern

Georges Kern studied Political Science in Strasbourg, France, and graduated in Business Administration from the University of St.Gallen in Switzerland. He acquired experience in the fast-moving-consumer-goods sector at Kraft Foods Switzerland before moving into the watch industry at TAG Heuer. In 2000, he joined Richemont, the Swiss luxury goods group, and was active in the integration of the brands A. Lange & Söhne, Jaeger-LeCoultre and IWC Schaffhausen following their acquisition. In 2002, at the age of 36, he became the youngest CEO within 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. In his new position, Georges Kern’s mission is to foster the global development of one of the world’s most established watch manufacturers, and to focus on further developing Breitling’s digital and retail footprint, in particular with a view to accelerating growth in the important 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.