Iowa Public Television

Scully/The World Show

Nicolas Hayek (#1335)

For this end-of-the-year edition of The World Show, we feature an in memoriam tribute to a giant who left us earlier this year. Bob is often asked who is the greatest entrepreneur whom he's ever interviewed. A tough question, given our special affection for this class of very dynamic businessmen and businesswomen. But when pressed, our host always gives the same answer: Nicolas Hayek, the legendary Swiss innovator and engineer who passed away this summer at the age of 82. Singlehandedly, back in the '80s, when low-cost countries were eating Switzerland's lunch in the watch-making field, Hayek (who was initially hired as a troubleshooter to find a solution) saw the way of the future: he vowed to keep those products, those brands, and especially those jobs in his country. He then bought out the watch consortium SMH, for one symbolic Swiss franc, and with the permission of the government, turned around the entire industry in the Alpine nation, by creating Swatch. This brilliant man would later invent something he called the "Swatchmobile", which then became the successful Smart car. But above all, Hayek was a philosopher of business, a man with infinite wisdom on the joys of work that he considered superior to the rewards of success. His eloquence is unmatched. Meet him, one last time, as we close out 2010. [26 minutes]

This episode has not aired in the past few months on Iowa Public Television.