Swarovski has named Alexis Nasard (pictured) as the company’s first external CEO, part of its transition from a family-managed to a family-owned business.
Nasard, who will take over on July 4, is the first person from outside the Swarovski family to hold this role in the company’s 127-year history. His predecessor, Michele Molon, was also a nonfamily member, though Molon held the CEO title only on an interim basis.
Molon will continue at the company in the newly created role of chief commercial officer.
Since January 2022, Nasard has served as a consultant for McKinsey & Co. From December 2020 to June 2021, he was CEO of Kantar, the London-based data and analytics company. Prior to that, he served for six years as CEO of Bata Group, the Lucerne, Switzerland–based shoe company,
Before that, he was president, Western Europe, and chief marketing officer for Heineken, the beer brand. He also spent 17 years as a general manager for Procter & Gamble, according to LinkedIn.
Up until recently, Swarovski was governed by an executive board, made up of its founding family, who reportedly didn’t always get along. In 2020, it named a family member, Robert Buchbauer, as its sole CEO, but the squabbling continued, and he stepped down in October 2021 and was succeeded by Molon.
The company’s board of directors has been expanded to include five nonfamily members, alongside three family members.
“With the appointment of Swarovski’s first external CEO, we are taking an important further step in establishing a sustainable governance model,” said Luisa Delgado, chair of the board of directors, in a statement.
Nasard said in the same statement that Swarovski “fascinates me as a luxury brand, a cultural icon, and as a fully integrated business model, with its unique positioning in the world of jewelry, design, fashion, stage, and screen.”
Giovanna Engelbert remains the brand’s chief creative officer.
Photo courtesy of Swarovski
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