Suited And Booted
BP has cycled through blundering executives for decades From John Browne’s scandalous courtroom lie to Albert Manifold’s alleged bullying
“You don’t lead by hitting people over the head. That’s assault, not leadership.” – Dwight D. Eisenhower
Another BP suit just got the boot.
Suddenly, Albert Manifold is no longer chairman following “serious concerns” over “governance standards, oversight and conduct,” the global oil giant announced on Tuesday.
He says he was fired without explanation and disputes what he called “lies” about his conduct. The financial press is reporting that he bullied staffers and swore a lot.
BP used to stand for British Petroleum, then Beyond Petroleum. Some say it stands for “Big Polluter.” It may just as well be named Boardroom Pandemonium.
The company churns through executives almost as fast as it spills oil. It’s had four CEOs and three chairmen since 2023, including interim roles.
Manifold reportedly ousted the last CEO, Murray Auchincloss in December and helped install its current CEO Meg O’Neill.
Auchincloss got the job after Bernard Looney was fired in 2023 when BP revealed he had multiple undisclosed dalliances with underlings. It was as if he thought the company was his personal Tinder app.
But let’s go back further to Tony Hayward.
Hayward resigned in 2010 after mismanaging BPs response to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, which killed 11 people and devastated the Gulf of Mexico. He tried to minimize the disaster by saying stupid things, including:
“The Gulf of Mexico is a very big ocean. The amount of volume of oil and dispersant we are putting into it is tiny in relation to the total water volume.”
But let’s go back even further to CEO John Browne, who resigned in 2007.
Browne lied in court during litigation stemming from a messy break-up with his partner.
Browne was also under scrutiny at the time for his ruthless cost-cutting and the disasters that ensued under his watch, including major pipeline leaks in Alaska and the 2005 Texas City refinery explosion that killed 15 workers.
But it was perjury that did him in. Browne sued Associated Newspapers, publisher of the Mail on Sunday, to stop the paper from publishing allegations from his former partner, Jeff Chevalier.
Browne told the court they had met “while jogging” in London’s Battersea Park. Evidence showed they’d met through a male escort website. A judge concluded that Browne lied under oath, which is not a good look for a well-dressed executive.
And the name of the male-escort website? “Suited and Booted,” which is exactly where Browne ended up … and more to follow.
