On May 2, 2014, LVMH announced the appointment of Aldo Magada as President and CEO of Zenith. Aldo will take over his new responsibilities on July 1st, 2014 replacing Jean-Frédéric Dufour who recently left Zenith to become the new CEO of Rolex S.A.
Jean-Claude Biver, President of the Watches Division of LVMH, is firmly convinced that Aldo’s significant experience in the watch-making industry, combined with his proven-track record in product development and strategy as well as his in-depth knowledge of manufactures will be instrumental to develop Zenith.
Aldo Magada is a Swiss citizen born in 1958. He grew up in Switzerland and graduated from the University of Lausanne in 1981 and from the University of La Jolla in San Diego, California in 1982. Aldo Magada started his career in sales at Vifor, a para-pharmaceutical company. In 1984, Aldo joined the watches industry at Swatch and then held positions with increasing responsibilities for Piaget and Omega where he was Product Director and Marketing Director alongside Jean-Claude Biver between 1994 and 1998.
In 2000, he became President of Gucci Time Pieces. Between 2002 and 2009, he led Technomarine, Reuge and Badollet, before founding a consulting firm, earning recognition and trust of numerous key players in the watches industry. Since 2010, he has been International Sales & Business Development Director at Breitling. During his nearly 30 years of experience mainly in the watchmaking industry, Aldo Magada has demonstrated his instrumental role in brand development and repositioning. As Jean-Claude Biver highlights, Aldo will ensure a continuous success for Zenith over the coming years.
Frankly, only time will tell what Aldo Magada's impact will be at Zenith as Jean-Frédéric Dufour leaves the brand at a very different place from when he took over in June of 2009. The Zenith brand image has been effectively repositioned and properly revived.
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