Richemont has promoted its chief operating officer Jérôme Lambert to the role of group CEO with immediate effect.
The Swiss luxury group has been without a chief executive since March 2017 when previous incumbent Richard Lepeu retired. At the time, group chairman Johann Rupert said he was abolishing the CEO position.
49-year old Mr Lambert is part of the fresh generation of leaders at Richemont that has been replacing what was seen as a stale, male group of older executives.
He is not without experience, having led Jaeger-LeCoultre and Montblanc and overseen the group’s Specialist Watchmakers, Montblanc and the Group’s Fashion and Accessories businesses prior to taking on the role of group chief operating officer last year.
Mr Lambert takes the reigns at a time of rapidly changing customer behaviour, which Richemont is responding to with decisions like buying Watchfinder this year and completing the acquisition of Yoox Net-A-Porter (YNAP).
“Jérôme’s new role sees him taking responsibility for the group’s future growth at a time when consumer habits are changing significantly. As we position the group to meet these challenges, he will lead the development of strategic plans reflecting the long-term objectives and priorities established by the Board,” says Richemont chairman Mr Rupert.
“As first among equals, he will work in partnership with his fellow senior executives on the board: Cyrille Vigneron, chief executive of Cartier, Nicolas Bos, chief executive of Van Cleef & Arpels and Burkhart Grund, chief finance officer, to ensure a coherent approach to achieving our common goals while respecting the individuality of our Maisons,” he adds.
Other direct reports include Federico Marchetti, CEO of YNAP, Emmanuel Perrin, head of the group’s Specialist Watchmaker Maisons and Eric Vallat, head of Fashion and Accessories Maisons.
