Arnault, The Even Younger Will Lead TAG Heuer

So... where to begin?

Courtesy of TAG Heuer

When dad owns the company, it is safe to say that he can make whatever staffing decisions he wants to.  But to be very honest, this is quite a bit different than lending junior the car keys. 

But let's get back to Mr. Arnault The Even Younger.  This is how his experience, education, etc. are described in the press release -

A former student of France’s École Polytechnique (X2014), Frédéric Arnault started his professional career at Facebook before moving on to consulting firm McKinsey. At the start of 2017 he joined TAG Heuer to manage its smartwatch activities. Since being appointed Chief Strategy and Digital Officer in October 2018, he has led an ambitious transformation and digitalisation campaign within the Maison in close collaboration with Stéphane Bianchi, CEO of the Watchmaking Division and TAG Heuer.

Now fairness, it's not as if I think I would be qualified to run this thing myself. But to be completely honest?  Based on his (let's be real here) scant experience, I don't get the sense that there was much of a talent search conducted to identify the best person for this particular job.

While Mr. Arnault has been able to focus on the fun stuff - digital communications, connected watches, party planning. The really hard piece of this job is going to be about making sound, informed decisions.  

And speaking of sound, informed decisions -

Courtesy of TAG Heuer

This is the same boy genius who decided that in the second week of March as the warnings about COVID-19 were getting louder and louder and people were advised to social distance and stay home whenever possible?  He decided it was a good idea to have a party instead -

Courtesy of Tag Heuer

And it remains to be seen how many party goers  might have gone home with something more than just the "swag bag".

I don't get the impression that this was perhaps the most well-thought out decision.

He is young, 25 years old by some accounts, so hopefully he will learn, and hopefully make better decisions now that he is in the driver's seat. 

As always, we wish Mr. Arnault good luck and God's Speed.