Although Rembrandt has been doing well, Rupert has been reluctant to follow in his father's footsteps. His reason is: "It is difficult to work for entrepreneurs who start their own businesses." At that time, Rupert stubbornly did what he liked ―― managing Rupert &; Rothschild and Omalins. 1988, the Rupert family established Richemont Group. In order to avoid the losses caused by international sanctions against the apartheid regime in South Africa, Anton decided to focus on luxury goods in order to separate the family's overseas assets from those in South Africa. During this period, Rupert participated in the separation and reorganization of assets and the listing of Richemont Group on the Swiss Stock Exchange, which was his first substantive job in the family business. Someone asked him why he took over his father's estate again. He just said, there is no special reason, but my father needs me. The 1990s was the golden age of Richemont, with turnover second only to LVMH, and annual sales reaching more than 4 billion dollars. In Rupert's words, "the company is like standing in an elevator. Even if you stand still, it will keep rising."
In fact, before Rupert joined the family business, he helped his father turn to the luxury goods industry. In the mid-1970s, he met the daughter of the shareholders of Cartier Company in new york. The French watchmaker and jeweler is looking for new investments. Cartier, founded in 1847, is known as the "king of jewelers" and is famous for providing diamond necklaces and crowns decorated with rubies to the rich and the royal family. But by the middle of the 20th century, the company's creativity and financial situation were almost bleak. Rupert persuaded his father to buy some stocks. In a few years, Cartier launched the Le Must lighter series, which made the brand flourish again. In addition, Rupert's family also owns shares in Lok Fu Men's subsidiaries Dunhill and Montblanc. 1999, Rupert bought a controlling stake in Van Cleef & Arpels, a high-end jeweler. The following year, he took away three brands from Bernard Arnot, CEO of rival LVMH, who also participated in the bidding: Jaeger-LeCoultre and Lan Zhi&; Soh ne) and IWC. At this point, Richemont Group has become an enterprise with dozens of luxury brands, and shines brilliantly in the luxury kingdom.
However, the good days cannot and will not last forever. In 2002, the problems of Richemont piled up, the operating cost was out of control, and the capital problem in turn dragged down the product innovation. Faced with many problems, Rupert began to carry out drastic reforms. First of all, he focused on cutting costs, closing some specialty stores and canceling some wasteful reimbursement. He cashed in some shares of British American Tobacco Company and paid off nearly $654.38 billion in debt. He also recruited a new chief operating officer, chief financial officer and several brand managers, focusing on innovation. Since then, Cartier has launched a new series of women's watches and jewelry, as well as some cheaper products, and other brands have followed suit. Soon, the sales of new products in the market accounted for more than 20% of the group's sales. Under Rupert's leadership, the company turned losses into profits within two years. Rupert's achievements doomed his life to be busy, but he always believed that only a comfortable and leisurely life can fully reflect his success and glory in business, because the purpose of life is not to work.
In addition to looking after his estate, Rupert also has a special liking for golf: Rupert and Ernie Els are good friends, and he postponed the Dunhill Championship just to let Ayers participate; He has been working hard to promote the development of Dunhill brand, especially to develop its golf clothes. In the most difficult time, someone advised him to give up the Dunhill brand, but he firmly said no; He discovered the similarity between Dunhill Road and golf and spared no expense in sponsoring golf events. In addition, he also serves as the chairman of the board of directors of South Africa Sunshine Tour. ...
The brand Dunhill Road is well known to golf lovers. Among the golf events named after Dunhill, there are as many as four world-famous events, including Dunhill Cup, Dunhill Open, Dunhill British Masters and Dunhill Challenge. Since Rupert took over Richemont, he has devoted great enthusiasm to this brand, choosing his favorite golf to establish Dunhill's product image, and sponsoring golf events is one of the means. Facts have proved that this promotion method is positive and effective, and golfers with high spending power are just the biggest buyers of Dunhill products. Dunhill men's wear has only been launched for about ten years, but its achievements are remarkable and its performance is booming. Shops are opening like mushrooms after rain. In addition to hard advertising, the subtle function of golf is to "moisten things quietly".
As a South African, Rupert never forgets to promote the development of golf in South Africa. As long as you look at the annual schedule of South Africa Sunshine Tour, you can feel Rupert's great influence on South Africa golf course. Rupert is still busy today, for his business empire and for golf. As the head of the world's second largest luxury goods group, his efforts have steadily increased the family business. He was selected as the best business leader in South Africa in recent ten years, and Fortune magazine even praised him as "the king of luxury goods in the future".