1981 - 1987

Hans Mustad is a global leader shaped by movement, adaptability, and a deep sense of stewardship for a 195-year-old family legacy. Born in Oslo, Hans spent his early childhood moving between Norway, France, and Italy before settling in Switzerland at the age of seven. These early shifts taught him to adapt quickly and embrace diverse cultures—skills that would later define his international career.

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He attended school on the Swiss-German side before joining the English section of Institut Le Rosey in 1981, where he remained until graduating in 1987. Immediately afterward, Hans made a life-defining decision: he joined the Norwegian Navy Officers School. Moving from the comfort and international elegance of Le Rosey to the discipline and austerity of military life was, as he says, “quite a shock.” Yet it was precisely this contrast that forged his resilience. After completing his naval service, Hans moved to the United States to study engineering and went on to spend five years with GE, including three formative years in Budapest. These experiences gave him first-hand exposure to world-class industrial operations and global organisational complexity. He then completed an MBA in the UK, broadening the strategic foundation that would serve him throughout his career.

 

In 2002, Hans returned to Switzerland to join the Mustad Hoofcare Group, the family company. In 2006, he and his cousin Clarin Mustad—also a Le Rosey alumnus—acquired the company from the previous generation, making them the 7th generation to lead a business nearing its 200th anniversary. The early years were challenging. By 2007, Mustad had more debt than turnover, and significant restructuring became unavoidable. When Hans stepped into leadership, the company operated 15 production facilities around the world. Over the years, through rigorous strategic consolidation and operational redesign, Mustad was transformed into a much stronger, more focused organisation with five globally coordinated production sites. This was not simply a financial turnaround—it was a fundamental reshaping of a historic company for long-term stability and modern competitiveness. As CEO, Hans now leads Mustad’s global operations across EMEA, North America, Latin America, and APAC. Under his leadership, the company has evolved from a traditional industrial manufacturer into a modern, customer-centric and digitally enabled group. A central element of this evolution has been his sponsorship of the Equinet App, an innovative digital platform designed to modernise and support farriers worldwide.

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For more than 23 years, Switzerland has been home to Hans and his wife Virginia, an Argentinian, where they have raised four children in a multilingual, multicultural environment that mirrors his own upbringing. Outside of work and family, Hans maintains a lifelong passion for skiing, golf, hunting, and the outdoors—pursuits that reconnect him to nature, challenge, and balance.

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Whether leading a near-200-year-old company through transformation, guiding teams across continents, or shaping the digital future of farriery, Hans is defined by resilience, discipline, and a commitment to leaving things better than he found them—a philosophy forged through a lifetime of movement, service, and generational responsibility.