Family Business
It is not lost on anyone in the watch business that many of the most successful brands are businesses that have been started and run by individual families. Over time, several family owned brands made the decision to bring in outside talent to manage their brands. The recent departure of Mr. B at Audemars Piguet is a good example of this. AP could have engaged in the DNA Olympics, but opted for competent management that didn't happen to fall off the same family tree.
It can also be said that there are family owned (and controlled) brands that have (by and large) remained in the family and gone from strength to strength - the name Stern still rings out loud and clear in Watch Town. But it is also important to understand that Thierry Stern grew up in the business, and spent years (not months) learning it.
The Boss's Kid
I am no stranger to enjoying the largesse of perceived (and possibly real) nepotism. My father was a country club manager and as a teenager a job was arranged for me in the locker room of the Elyria Country Club where I spent my weekends and summers polishing members shoes and cleaning their golf clubs. I wasn't paid any more or less than my colleagues, but my hours were wildly elastic and absolutely to the benefit of my ability to go play in soccer games that my faither was coaching. I was not quite made the CEO of a watch brand, but I suspect the impact of nepotism (both perceived and real) has on the people you work with is a pretty universal and cross cultural one. You will always be judged with more than a soupçon of doubt.Now it is safe to say that Mr. Arnault did not grow up in the watch business. And that is not necessarily a disqualifying factor. Several leaders in Watch Town came through different channels. But invariably, these folks had other experience in other industries. Mr. Arnault's CV prior to joining Tag Heuer was a little thin. His age at that time was in question by many. For me, in hindsight, I would not point a finger at age, but rather a lack of experience. We fast forward now some several years later, and Mr. Arnault certainly has some experience under his belt (both business and life). But to say that he single handedly made Tag Heuer a success is myopic (sorry Hodinkee). A lot of time and effort from a LOT of people before Mr. Arnault arrived paved the way for the path that Tag was and continues to be on. But as I have learned over more than 20 years in Watch Town, it is more often than not the family heir that receives the laurels as the last person standing.
Reality Check
Regardless of what watch fans, the business world, or we members of the Fourth and Fifth Estate think and claim to be expert on, there is one simple, plain reality - LVMH is an extremely large, and by all accounts extremely successful juggernaut in the luxury business world. And with all due respect to all sides, it is a business that is essentially owned by the Arnault family. And to put it even more bluntly - Hublot, Tag Heuer, and Zenith were not exactly robust brands on their own. They needed (and still need) the group to support them, there is really no denying it.
And One Last Bowl of Truth Soup
It is easy to be earnest and nostalgic about brands. It is even easier to shout that "I could do it better!" Watch fans are not entirely unlike fans of professional sports teams - we are a somewhat obsessive, overly opinionated lot that are convinced that if we were given the keys to the castle and a seat behind the big mahogany desk we would somehow know better and be hugely successful. And that just isn't true.
I think Mr. Arnault deserves the opportunity to prove himself now that he has landed in the hot seat. But to the historical revisionists out there, let's not forget that Tag's success is currently more down to the efforts put in prior. It doesn't mean Tag won't continue to prosper, but let's be real about assigning credit when we're handing out the roses ; )
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