"BP boss Bernard Looney resigns"

" \r\n \r\n BP boss Bernard Looney resigns \r\n\r\n \r\n\r\nThe head of oil giant\u00a0 BP \u00a0has resigned as chief executive amid a review of his personal relationships with colleagues.\r\n\r\nIn a shock late evening announcement, the firm said Bernard Looney, who had led the company since 2020, was stepping down with immediate effect.\r\n\r\nBP said it had recently started an investigation into alleged relationships Mr Looney had with colleagues, the second in two years.\r\n\r\nThe firm said he had admitted he was not \u201cfully transparent\u201d initially.\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\n\u201cThe company has strong values and the board expects everyone at the company to behave in accordance with those values,\u201d a spokesman said.\r\n\r\n\u201cAll leaders in particular are expected to act as role models and to exercise good judgement in a way that earns the trust of others.\u201d\r\n\r\nNick Butler, a former head of strategy at BP, told the BBC\u2019s Today programme that there was \u201cshock\u201d about Mr Looney\u2019s exit.\r\n\r\n\u201cBP is a company where the leadership is crucial and Bernard provided a lot of that. We\u2019ll have to see if his successor can achieve even more than he did,\u201d he added.\r\n\r\nThe company\u2019s shareholders will now be watching for who is appointed as BP\u2019s next chief executive, Sophie Lund-Yates from investment firm Hargreaves Lansdown said in a note.\r\n\r\n\u201cA clear path forward needs to be forged sooner rather than later to limit negative sentiment,\u201d she said.\r\n\r\nBorn in Ireland and raised on a farm, Mr Looney had spent his career at BP, which he joined in 1991 as a drilling engineer. He became a member of its executive team in 2010.\r\n\r\nHe was previously head of oil and gas production before taking over as chief executive from Bob Dudley.\r\n\r\nMr Looney presented a more approachable image as a chief executive, taking to Instagram when he took the helm to post pictures of smiling employees at one of the company\u2019s operations in Germany, and said he wanted to use the platform to talk \u201copenly\u201d about people\u2019s concerns about the oil and gas industry.\r\n\r\nHe steered the firm through a tumultuous period, with his tenure coinciding with pandemic lockdowns, when demand for oil and gas dropped sharply. Just months into his chief executive role, he told staff BP planned to cut 10,000 jobs due to the pandemic.\r\n\r\nIn 2022 the start of the war in Ukraine sent energy prices soaring, and prompted the firm to leave Russia after pressure from the UK government.\r\n\r\nMr Looney had set out a plan to make the energy giant net zero by 2050 but had more recently come under fire from environmental groups for watering down an initial target.\r\n\r\nBP said it had not made any decisions related to severance pay for Mr Looney. He received more than \u00a310m in pay and bonuses last year \u2013 more than 170 times as much as an average BP employee \u2013 as soaring oil prices pushed the firm\u2019s profits to a record.\r\n\r\nChief financial officer Murray Auchincloss will act as chief executive on an interim basis.\r\n\r\nMr Auchincloss has been a central part of the management team as the firm continues to work towards net zero although there is no guarantee that he will get the job as a permanent role.\r\n\r\nMr Looney\u2019s departure comes as a series of high profile dismissals of executives in the UK has put a spotlight on executive personal behaviour.\r\n\r\nTony Danker, boss of the UK\u2019s largest business lobby group the CBI, was fired in April over complaints about his behaviour at work.\r\n\r\nMeanwhile, Crispin Odey was forced to step down from the hedge fund he founded in June after reports of sexual harassment allegations by 13 women. He has denied the claims.\r\n\r\nOdey firm to be broken up after harassment claims against its founder\r\nCBI boss Tony Danker \u2018shocked\u2019 at firing over misconduct claims\r\nBP said it had launched a review of Mr Looney\u2019s relationships with colleagues following an anonymous tip-off in 2022.\r\n\r\nAt the time, the company said Mr Looney disclosed \u201ca small number of historical relationships with colleagues prior to becoming CEO\u201d and it found no breach of company conduct.\r\n\r\nMr Looney gave assurances then about disclosing the past relationships, as well as his future behaviour.\r\n\r\nBut the board said it had received similar allegations \u201crecently\u201d, prompting another review.\r\n\r\n\u201cMr Looney has today informed the company that he now accepts that he was not fully transparent in his previous disclosures,\u201d BP said. \u201cHe did not provide details of all relationships and accepts he was obligated to make more complete disclosure.\u201d\r\n\r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n "

"BP boss Bernard Looney resigns"

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