Audemars Piguet’s charismatic chief executive François-Henry Bennahmias is set to leave the business next year, according to Astrid Wendlandt who writes the respected Miss Tweed blog about stories from inside major luxury groups.
A spokesperson for the company said it would not comment on rumours.
Mr Bennahmias has been working at Audemars Piguet for 25 years and as CEO for almost a decade.
He is credited with modernising the brand image of AP through radical limited editions and innovative brand partnerships while introducing the entirely new CODE 11.59 and maintaining the desirability of the classic Royal Oak.
Miss Tweed suggests that AP is preparing to hire a headhunting firm, probably based in Paris, to help hire an external candidate to lead the luxury watchmaker.
“The race is on internally as well, several sources with first-hand knowledge of the matter have said. “There will be a dual-track process,” one of the sources said. Bennahmias is due to leave the company sometime next year,” Miss Tweed reports.
