Steven Wood, founder of US-based GreenWood Investors, which owns approximately 0.5% of the shares of Swatch Group AG, attempted to be elected to the board today.

The Swiss-based Hayek family, which owns 25% of the stock — since they’re mostly registered shares — controls 44% of the voting rights and recommended that the board reject Wood’s bid ahead of the company’s annual meeting today.

An overwhelming majority (79.2%) of the shareholders voted against his election to the board.

Wood won the support of 62% of bearer shareholders, however, the Hayek family still controls enough of the voting rights to dominate the decision-making.

In a statement, Wood criticized how the vote was handled and said he would consider requesting an extraordinary general meeting to ensure the election of a representative of the bearer shareholders is conducted in line with Swiss law.

Swatch said all motions were handled in accordance with legal requirements.

Proxy advisers Institutional Shareholder Services and Glass Lewis had recommended shareholders vote against the re-election of Swatch’s supervisory board, questioning their independence.

Publicly traded Swatch Group AG’s profits have significantly declined over the past decade, while its main rival, Rolex’s estimated profits, have continually increased. Even so, four of the Swatch Group’s watch brands — Omega, Longines, Tissot, and Swatch — ranked in the top 20 last year based on Morgan Stanley’s market estimates. They’re still a dominant force in Swiss watchmaking.

 

Photo by Professional Watches. Shows Nick Hayek Jr. smoking a cigar in the middle of the Swatch Group plaza at Baselworld 2012.