Johann Rupert founded Compagnie Financière Richemont SA in 1988 when he spun offthe international assets of Rembrandt Group Ltd., a South Africa-based company founded in the 1940s by his father, Anton Rupert. The luxury goods investments of Rembrandt Group combined with Rothmans International formed the initial group of Richemont subsidiaries. In March 2007, Richemont and Polo Ralph Lauren Inc. announced the formation of a 50/50 joint venture, the Polo Ralph Lauren Watch and Jewelry Company SÀRL. In October 2008, the Group divested all of its remaining interests in the tobacco industry. , Compagnie Financière Richemont SA is the sixth largest corporation by market capitalization in the Swiss Market Index. As of 2014, Richemont is the second-largest luxury goods company in the world after LVMH. The compensation of the Richemont group's executives increased by an average of 14% in 2018.
Organization
Compagnie Financière Richemont SA organizes its business activities into three operating divisions: Jewellery Maisons, Specialist Watchmakers and Other Businesses. Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels, Buccellati, constitute the Jewellery Maisons. The Specialist Watchmakers group is composed of A. Lange & Söhne, Baume & Mercier, IWC Schaffhausen, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Officine Panerai, Piaget, Roger Dubuis, Vacheron Constantin and the joint venture with the Ralph Lauren Watch & Jewelry Co. The Other Businesses division includes Azzedine Alaïa, Chloé, Dunhill, Lancel, Montblanc, Peter Millar, and Purdey.
Ownership and control
The largest significant shareholder of Compagnie Financière Richemont SA is Compagnie Financière Rupert, a Swiss company that holds shares controlled and principally owned by Johann Rupert. Compagnie Financière Rupert owns 522,000,000 Class "B" shares of Compagnie Financière Richemont SA, representing 9.1% of the equity and 50% of the voting rights. Johann Rupert and Compagnie Financière Rupert also hold 2,836,664 class "A" shares or "A" share equivalents as of the end of March 2016.
Investments
Subsidiaries
The following companies are wholly owned subsidiaries of Compagnie Financière Richemont SA unless otherwise noted.
A. Lange & Söhne — watches; based in Glashütte, Germany
Azzedine Alaïa — women's fashions; based in Paris, France
Richemont acquired British clothing retailerHackett Limited in 1992. On 2 June 2005, Richemont announced its sale to Spanish investment company Torreal S.C.R., S.A. In 1998, Richemont bought a controlling stake in Shanghai Tang. In July 2017, Richemont announced that it had sold Shanghai Tang to a group of investors headed by Italian entrepreneur Alessandro Bastagli. In 2000, the Group sold its minority stake in Vivendi, representing its exit from all previous media interests, which had included NetHold and Canal+. Richemont and Mimi So formed a joint venture in 2004, Richemont's first investment in an American brand. In 2007, Richemont requested to become the majority partner of the joint venture. Mimi So declined and purchased Richemont's stake in the venture. In 2008, Richemont spun off all of its non-luxury goods businesses, principally Richemont's stake in British American Tobacco, into a newly formed, separately traded holding company, Reinet Investments S.C.A. In 2015, the Net-a-Porter Group was merged with the YOOX Group in an all-share transaction. Richemont is the largest shareholder in the enlarged Group.
Website blocking
In October 2014 the first blocking order against trademark infringing consumer goods was passed against the major UK ISPs by Richemont, Cartier International and Montblanc to block several domains selling trademark infringing products.
