Richemont appoints Karlheinz Baumann to senior executive committee

Richemont has appointed Karlheinz Baumann to the group’s Senior Executive Committee (SEC) in his capacity as group director of Operations, in charge of Manufacturing, Research and Innovation, Customer Service, Logistics and Supply Chain, Indirect Procurement, Responsible Sourcing and Security.

Baumann will continue to report to Jérôme Lambert, CEO of Richemont and a director on the board of Compagnie Financière Richemont SA.

Baumann brings 27 years of experience, primarily in production, R&D and supply chain excellence across the luxury and automotive industries. Baumann began his career in 1996 as a McKinsey consultant in Germany before becoming an executive director at the German automotive supplier, Wilhelm Karmann, in 2003.

In 2008, he moved to Switzerland to join the Richemont Maison, IWC Schaffhausen, as COO. In 2016, Baumann was promoted to the group position of Industry and Services director and then in 2023 to group director of operations.

Johann Rupert, chairman, said: “I am delighted to have Karlheinz Baumann join Richemont’s Senior Executive Committee. In his 15-year tenure at Richemont, Karlheinz has successfully transformed the operations first at IWC Schaffhausen and then across the organisation as Group Director of Operations, building on his deep expertise acquired as a former senior executive in the automotive industry and at McKinsey.

“His well-rounded experience and knowledge of the group will be crucial in advancing the Group’s decisions on the increasing digitalisation, flexibility and resilience of our operations including in manufacturing and in distribution, notably relating to ‘Luxury New Retail’. Other key areas for his contribution will relate to responsible sourcing and innovation as a means to achieve sustainable growth.”