Companies
Ignominious end to Browne's reign at BP
Lord Browne has resigned as chief executive of BP,
the oil giant, his admission that
he lied to a UK court. UK courts lifted a legal injunction against
Associated Newspapers –
publishers of the Daily Mail – allowing
the media group to publish allegations about Browne’s relationship with Jeff
Chevalier. The newspaper reports also accused Browne of misusing BP assets and
resources.
Browne admitted to his relationship with Chevalier, and conceded he had
initially lied to a court about how they met. However, he added: “I have always
regarded my sexuality as a personal matter, to be kept private … I deny
categorically any allegations of improper conduct relating to BP. The company
has confirmed today that it found no such wrongdoing”.
Browne had been scheduled to retire at the end of July. As a result of leaving
at this earlier date, he will forfeit a leaving package worth up to £15.5m.
This was preceded by BP’s AGM seeing the oil giant suffer
its largest dissent vote in over ten years, with only 83% of shareholders who
voted backing Browne's remuneration package.
Manifest data shows this to be the most significant level
of dissent in the last decade, the next highest being in 1997, when a resolution
to elect K R Seal as a director received only 90.03% support. The last four
years have seen an average vote in favour of BP’s remuneration report of 96.66%.
Until recently one of the UK’s most highly esteemed
business leaders, Browne’s reputation has taken a battering over the past two
years, particularly in relation to an explosion at BP’s Texas City refinery that
killed 15 people, and an oil spill in Alaska that forced the company to shut
down its largest US field.
Links
BP
Associated Newspapers
Daily Mail
May 2007
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