Editing Breitling SA (section)

==History==
[[File:Scott Carpenter inside Aurora 7.jpg|thumb|right|Astronaut [[Scott Carpenter]] wearing a Breitling Cosmonaute inside the [[Aurora 7]] spacecraft, May 24, 1962]]
Breitling SA was founded in Saint-Imier by [[Léon Breitling]] in 1884.<ref name=bloom>{{cite magazine| title=Breitling SA: Private Company Information| magazine=[[Bloomberg Businessweek]]| url=http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/private/snapshot.asp?privcapId=7606770| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121008195708/http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/private/snapshot.asp?privcapId=7606770| url-status=dead| archive-date=October 8, 2012| access-date=4 January 2011}}</ref> When Breitling died in 1914, the business passed to his son, [[Gaston Breitling|Gaston]], and then to his grandson, [[Willy Breitling|Willy]], in 1935. Willy's children, however, were not interested in pursuing the family business, so the Breitling factory in La Chaux de Fonds closed in December 1978. Willy, already in poor health, died in May 1979.

Ernst Schneider bought the Breitling name from the founding family in 1979. Schneider was  owner of the Sicura Company in [[Grenchen]]. Production of Breitling watches moved to the Sicura factory, which later changed its name to ''Montres Breitling AG'' and then to ''Breitling AG'' in 1994.

The Schneider family retained ownership until April 2017, when Ernst's son, Theodore Schneider, sold the majority stake (80%) in Breitling to [[CVC Capital Partners]] for $870 million. Schneider retained 20% control of Breitling until November 2018, when he sold these remaining 20% to CVC.<ref name="FinTimes">{{cite news| last1=Megaw| first1=Nicolas| title=CVC to take majority stake in Swiss watchmaker Breitling| url=https://www.ft.com/content/0f9ec346-8d8d-3bef-83bd-14845dcee8a6| newspaper=[[Financial Times]]| location=[[London]]| date=28 April 2017| access-date=2 February 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine| url=https://www.bilanz.ch/people/breitling-kern-und-schneider-sind-wie-feuer-und-eis| title=Breitling: "Kern und Schneider sind wie Feuer und Eis"| trans-title=Breitling: "The core and cutter are like fire and ice"| journal=[[Bilanz]]| language=de| first=Marc| last=Kowalsky| date=21 December 2018| access-date=2019-10-23}}</ref>

On 23 December 2022, [[Partners Group]], a Swiss investment and [[private equity]] firm, took over the majority of the Breitling shares from CVC. Co-founder of Partners Group, [[Alfred Gantner]], took over the presidency of Breitling's directorial board.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Partners Group installiert Alfred Gantner als Präsident von Breitling |url=https://www.handelszeitung.ch/unternehmen/partners-group-baut-breitling-beteiligung-aus-alfred-gantner-wird-prasident-558556 |date=2022-12-23 |access-date=2022-12-31 |work=[[Handelszeitung]] |language=de}}</ref>