Johan Rupert

March 30 (Bloomberg) -- Cie. Financiere Richemont SA, the second-biggest luxury company, said it will hire Martha Wikstrom to develop its leather, fashion and accessory brands as it seeks to eliminate losses in brands such as Dunhill and Lancel...

South Africa’s billionaire Rupert family used cash from their tobacco interests to found Richemont in 1988, creating the world’s biggest jeweler through acquisitions.

Separately, Rupert denied a report on the Business Montres Web site that said Richemont will replace Jerome Lambert, chief executive officer of its Jaeger-LeCoultre watch brand.

"Jerome is one of our most highly regarded and successful managers and we very much regret the offensive comments made in the article," Rupert said.

Lambert, speaking by telephone, denied a report on the same Web site that said Richemont plans to fire 180 people.