Berkshire's jeweler splits the job: revenue here, factories there
Richline promotes Rio Grande president Arien Gessner to chief revenue officer across four divisions and hands 30-year veteran Moss Makhoulian supply chain — procurement, Dominican and Chinese plants, logistics and diamond supply.
By The Retail Desk
What changed
Berkshire Hathaway's jewelry arm has redrawn its org chart along the industry's new fault line: money coming in, and metal going out. Richline Group last week promoted Arien Gessner to chief revenue officer and Moss Makhoulian to senior vice president of supply chain and operations — one owner for each side of the squeeze.
What it means
- When metal is this expensive, the supply chair matters more than the sales chair. Richline giving each its own executive is what taking the input-cost era seriously looks like from inside a Berkshire company — quiet, structural, and announced without a single adjective.
Key figures
| OwnerBerkshire Hathaway | |
|---|---|
| RevenueArien Gessner · CRO, 13 years, ex-Rio Grande | |
| Supply chainMoss Makhoulian · SVP, 30+ years, Honora, Yurman | |
| His remitprocurement · DR + China plants · logistics · diamonds |
Source: The reshuffle · Richline Group
The résumés
Gessner, 13 years with the company and most recently president of its Rio Grande tools-and-supplies division, takes revenue responsibility across Rio Grande, LeachGarner Attleboro, Nordt and Silpada — a portfolio that spans mill products, findings, componentry and direct-to-consumer silver.
Makhoulian, who spent the past six years as senior vice president of merchandising and R&D after three decades that included Honora and David Yurman, now runs jewelry procurement, manufacturing capacity planning at the group's Dominican Republic and China facilities, logistics and diamond supply.
The squeeze, in metal · spot, July 20
Source: The reshuffle · Richline Group
Why now
Chief executive Dave Meleski framed the moves as support for the group's longer-term strategy, and the timing explains the shape of it.
With gold above $4,000 an ounce and silver near $57, a jewelry manufacturer's margin is decided less at the sales desk than in metal purchasing, factory loading and freight — the exact portfolio Richline just consolidated under a single supply-chain owner.
| Figure | |
|---|---|
| Gold, $/Oz | 4,018 |
| Platinum, $/Oz | 1,596 |
| Palladium, $/Oz | 1,248 |
| Silver, $/Oz | 56.76 |
The input costs a manufacturer's margin now lives inside Spot prices, Kitco, morning of July 20. Carat Capital graphics desk.
The story so far
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Method
The input costs a manufacturer's margin now lives inside