Nicolas Hayek

Hayek was born, the second of three children, to a Lebanese mother and a Lebanese-American father, both from well-regarded Greek Orthodox Christian Lebanese families with deep roots in Lebanon's Northern Governorate of El-Koura. His father was trained as a dentist at Loyola University Chicago. His older sister Mona is the widow of the renowned Lebanese architect Joseph Philippe Karam.[2] His younger brother Sam, also a Swiss citizen, is a former CEO of the Swiss group Sibra (Biere Cardinal).[3]

In Beirut in 1950, Hayek met a young Swiss au pair, Marianne Mezger, daughter of the industrialist Eduard Mezger. They married in 1951 and moved to Switzerland. They had two children, Nayla and G. Nicolas (Nick) Jr. In 1964, the family moved to Meisterschwanden, a village 35 kilometers west of Zürich. Hayek lived there for the rest of his life.

Hayek was awarded the title of Doctor honoris causa of Law and Economics of the Faculty of Beni Culturali of the University of Bologna (Italy) in June 1998, after being awarded doctor honoris causa of Law and Economics of the University of Neuchatel (Switzerland) in 1996.

In 2010, Hayek was ranked the world's 232nd richest person with an estimated net worth of $3.9 billion.[4]

Hayek died unexpectedly on 28 June 2010 of cardiac arrest during work at the Swatch Group headquarters in Biel.[5]

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