BP chair ousted over ‘volcanic’ behaviour after less than a year
The chair of BP has been fired after less than a year, after “serious concerns” about his conduct were lodged with the energy major’s board.
Albert Manifold was stripped of his roles as chair and director of the London-listed petrochemicals giant having only taken the reins last July, with director Amanda Blanc saying the board had unearthed several cases of serious misconduct during his tenure. The ousting was reportedly on account of his “volcanic” temper towards colleagues, which stretched to verbal abuse and bullying.
“Albert has helped bring a welcome focus and pace to BP’s transformation,” Blanc, who is also chief executive at insurance giant Aviva, said in a statement. “However, the board has been surprised and disappointed to learn of governance oversight and conduct issues it deems unacceptable and has taken decisive action.”
Shares in the petrochemicals giant fell more than eight per cent on news of his departure, before paring back some losses to trade 4.6 per cent lower two hours after the announcement.
The decision extends a period of top brass turmoil at BP, which pushed out previous its chair Helge Lund just 10 months ago over concerns about his ability to oversee the energy giant’s re-embrace of petrochemicals.
Its executive team has also undergone several sudden reshuffles. Former boss Murray Auchincloss had served as chief executive for just under two years before he was ousted for former Woodside chief executive Meg O’Neill. And before that, the company was plunged into disarray when it emerged Auchincloss’s predecessor, Bernard Looney resigned over a relationship he had with a member of staff that contravened BP’s governance policy.
Will Hares, senior energy analyst at Bloomberg intelligence said O’Neill and the next permanent chair “must rekindle investor confidence in the company’s strategy and internal controls”.
“O’Neill, also a recent joiner as of April, remains as chief executive, which suggests no operational impact, though investor concern likely will mount after three chief executives and (soon to be) three chairmen in the past three years,” he added.
According to Sky News, BP’s board felt it was left with no choice but to oust Manifold after receiving several complaints about his behaviour being overly aggressive. There had been several instances when staff “felt belittled after engagement with the chairman”, the report said.
A person familiar with the matter told Sky News: “There had been a number of complaints from people who felt belittled after engaging with the chairman. It was felt that the situation was not going to improve.
“This was an issue of manner; it was not about any impropriety.”
More leadership turmoil at BP
Just a month before being ousted, Manifold suffered a major rebellion from shareholders at BP’s annual general meeting, with nearly a fifth of the group’s investors voting against his continuation as chair.
AGM votes over board personnel tend to receive almost unanimous approval, meaning the vote against Manifold constituted a major dent to the energy executive’s authority. In the run-up to the showdown, several of BP’s largest shareholders had raised concerns over the manner in which Manifold had sought to force through changes to the energy major’s reporting and moving its AGMs online.
BP said it had appointed Ian Tyler, who heads up the energy firm’s remuneration committee and is also chair of FTSE 250 construction firm Grafton, as its interim chair.
He said: “The board has been very impressed with Meg O’Neill since she joined as chief executive. She has extensive industry and operational experience and real clarity about the direction and opportunity for the business.
“She has already taken bold action to simplify and strengthen the organisation such as announcing the move to a clearly defined upstream/downstream model. Under her leadership we are building a simpler, stronger, more valuable BP.”
Manifold’s departure risks jeopardising the nascent recovery from a years-long spell of underperformance relative to its peers, which has seen its shares rally more than 45 per cent in the past year. They were further buoyed by an estimate-beating first-quarter update, alongside which O’Neill unveiled a root-and-branch strategic overhaul that returned it to its original simplified structure.
The energy major will operate in just two distinct arms. Its ‘upstream division’ will focus on discovering and extracting oil and gas. Meanwhile its ‘downstream division’ will be devoted to refining and selling fossil fuels.