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Rolex’s new global CEO to take office in mid-June
Rolex SA’s board of directors announced late Thursday that Jean-Frédéric Dufour, the company’s third CEO since 2008, officially will take office on June 17.
Geneva--Rolex SA’s board of directors announced late Thursday that Jean-Frédéric Dufour officially will take office on June 17, the date of the company’s ordinary general assembly. 
Rolex announced in April 2014 that Dufour, the CEO at Zenith SA, would be taking over as the luxury watch brand’s global CEO at a future date, replacing Gian Riccardo Marini, the former head of Rolex Italia who was named to the global CEO post in 2011. He replaced Bruno Meier, who had held the job since 2008.
The rapid succession of CEOs--starting with Meier in 2008, then Marini in 2011 and now Dufour in 2015-- followed a period of stability at the position. Prior to these three men, Patrick Heiniger had headed for the brand for 16 years.
When Rolex named Dufour its new CEO last April, the brand did not release an exact date on which he officially would become CEO, stating only that it would be worked out in cooperation with Marini.
Rolex said Thursday that Marini would be appointed to the company’s board and the brand thanked him for “the excellence of his work and the magnificent results obtained.”
Dufour comes to Rolex from Zenith, which is owned by luxury goods conglomerate LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton. Prior to that, he worked in product development for Chopard for eight years, and also held positions at Swatch Group and luxury watch brand Ulysse Nardin.
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