After the global economic collapse, creative entrepreneurs are once more seen as the solution to the business of making commerce pay, and there is no doubt that one of the most capable and successful of them all is Nicolas G. Hayek. But how did this self-made man’s flamboyant career begin? How did he go about the challenge of achieving his extraordinary success? What precisely is his relationship with the Swatch Group? All these questions, and more, are explored in a biography by Jurg Wegelin that is as critical as it is entertaining. Hayek has the Midas touch. He is considered the wunderkind of free enterprise; Franco Cologni, former head of luxury-goods brand Richemont, called him the god of the watch Industry; he is a living legend about whom, on average, at least two articles are published each day in the Swiss press. But his public image is largely Hayek’s own creation. Important chapters in his life have remained a mystery until now: his birth and upbringing in the Lebanon, his ascent from penniless immigrant to in-demand managerial consultant, his true role in the success of Swatch. Jurg Wegelin has kept track of Hayek’s business affairs for thirty years. He has travelled to the Lebanon, interviewed many of his competitors, along with politicians and former colleagues, and has closely examined Hayek’s public relations machinery and leadership style. The result is the first comprehensive biography of one of the most charismatic entrepreneurial personalities of our times.
