Jean-Claude Biver

Jean-Claude Biver
Biver at the World Economic Forum annual meeting in 2012
Born	(1949-09-20)September 20, 1949 Luxembourg
Occupation	Board member of Hublot (since 2004); Chief Executive Officer of TAG Heuer

Jean-Claude Biver (born September 20, 1949 in Luxembourg) is the CEO of TAG Heuer and CEO, board member, and minority shareholder of Hublot, a Swiss luxury watchmaker. Biver has been extremely successful at Hublot, and was previously successful in rejuvenating the Blancpain and Omega brands, both currently owned by Swatch Group. Biver is also known for his own exclusive cheese.

Biver's leadership in the Swiss watch industry has been credited as "single handedly [sic] ... saving [the industry] from the quartz movement." In 1980, even prestigious Swiss watch brands had "a proportion of 70% more or less quartz movements in their collection;" since then, the Swiss watch industry has staged a "remarkable recovery", with 2008 exports valued at CHF17 billion.

Biver was born on September 20, 1949, in Luxembourg, and at the age of 10 moved with his family to Switzerland, attending school in Saint Prex. He later studied at Collège des Morges, and earned a degree in business at HEC Lausanne (also known as the Faculty of Business and Economics of the University of Lausanne). Upon graduation, he spent time in the Vallée de Joux, absorbing the culture of watchmaking, where he met Jacques Piguet, who was running the movement factory Frederic Piguet. Through Jacques' father, he met Georges Golay, chairman and CEO of Audemars Piguet (AP), where he was offered a job as sales manager for Europe. In a year of working for AP, he was able to learn the "art of watchmaking," though he left after a year, thinking he could do better elsewhere. He left AP to become product manager at Omega, a major multinational brand, leaving Omega after a year to return to the manufacture d'horlogerie of the Vallée de Joux. Jean-Claude Biver was awarded an honorary degree Doctor Honoris Causa from Business School Lausanne in 2012 in recognition of his contribution to the success of the Swiss watchmaking industry.