Exclusive: Audemars Piguet’s Maverick CEO Gets the Last Word
François-Henry Bennahmias faced down doubters as he leveraged popular culture to transform Audemars Piguet’s business. Ahead of his departure from the now $2.6 billion brand next week, Bennahmias revisits his triumphs and setbacks, and hints at his start-up ambitions.
KEY INSIGHTS
- Bennahmias is laying the groundwork for a secretive new start-up: "I want to be my own boss,” Audemars Piguet CEO says. “I’m not working for anyone ever again.”
- During 11 years as CEO, the now 59-year old executive tripled revenues and transformed the brand image of the prestigious Swiss watchmaking house.
- A new CEO hired from Procter and Gamble, Ilaria Resta is set to take the reins.
Few figures in Swiss watchmaking have been as disruptive or as divisive over the past decade as François-Henry Bennahmias. In the 11 years since he was appointed chief executive of the family-owned Swiss watch company Audemars Piguet, an obsession with hip-hop and street culture, the launch of a new line called Code 11.59 and his leather bomber jackets have won him legion admirers — and as many detractors.
Next week, the 59-year-old Frenchman will walk out of the company’s headquarters in the sleepy village of Le Brassus for the last time, leaving a gaping hole not just in a company whose revenues have more than tripled during his tenure, but in an industry that’s short on high-flying mavericks. Few chief executives in the conservative watch world have reshaped the brands they run like Bennahmias. Have any made luxury watches as desirable? Since his departure was announced in 2022 observers have been left wondering not just what will become of AP, but of the wider industry, as well as what one of watchmaking’s greatest showmen will do next.
Sitting in a meeting room in the company’s New York offices, 29 storeys up, Bennahmias admits he’s running on fumes. In previous weeks, he’s been in Dubai and Geneva representing Audemars Piguet at large-scale events, and he’s just come from the launch of the brand’s latest high-octane, high-profile collaboration — with rapper Travis Scott’s brand Cactus Jack — at the brand’s 57th street boutique. The following week, he’ll be in Miami for Art Basel. And as I entered the office, I caught a glimpse of him in a glass-walled meeting room in deep conversation with actor Kevin Hart. (More on that in a moment.)
Bennahmias begins on slightly guarded form for a known performer whose expletive-laden speeches and unpredictable on-stage stunts have become familiar. At last month’s Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève, he stunned the audience when he planted a kiss on the lips of unsuspecting French actor Edouard Baer, who was hosting the event.
Seismic Impact
His relationship with the Audemars Piguet board is thought to have been fractious at times as he stretched the company into new territories, leading where other Swiss brands might not dare to follow.
“They gave me the possibility to achieve what we’ve achieved together,” he says of his employers a touch evasively. “Were they always at ease with all my visions? No. Are they happy about what happened for the last 11 years? Sure. So it’s a balance.”
What has happened since he was appointed interim chief executive in 2012 is that AP has reported record-beating revenues 10 years out of the past 11 years (during the initial coronavirus outbreak in 2020, a 4 percent slip bucked the industry’s brand’s 21.4 percent norm), leapfrogging the brand ahead of rivals and, climbing the Swiss league tables. This year, Bennahmias forecasts revenues of 2.3 billion Swiss francs ($2.6 billion), a result which should cement its position in the top four Swiss watch companies behind Omega, Cartier and perennial chart-topper Rolex.
With success has come criticism: While his acolytes express unstinting loyalty, painting him as a visionary leader, those less enthused have accused him of undoing the traditions of the brand and currying favour from characters with questionable reputations. Scott, the latest example, narrowly avoided criminal charges after 10 people died at his Astroworld Festival in 2021, including a nine-year-old child. The star’s public response to the tragedy was widely condemned.
In spite of this, or perhaps because of it, Bennahmias’ impact on the watch industry has been seismic. Who else, many have asked, would have partnered a watch company founded in 1875 and revered by collectors for its arcane high-end complications with Marvel? Or Jay-Z? Or LeBron James? But his tenure saw watchmaking conquer a younger, global, more diverse audience as “at some point, street and luxury merged,” Bennahmias said.