BP leader is the latest to resign over questions about personal conduct
Global energy giant BP is scurrying to find a new chief executive after CEO Bernard Looney became the latest corporate leader to step down amid questions about his personal conduct
LONDON — Global energy giant BP, one of Britain’s biggest and most recognizable companies, is scurrying to find a new chief executive after CEO Bernard Looney became the latest corporate leader to step down amid questions about his personal conduct.
Among the most crucial questions facing the company’s board is whether to recruit a leader who will maintain BP’s goal of eliminating net carbon emissions by 2050 as the oil industry struggles to meet climate commitments.
Looney, 53, resigned Tuesday after he accepted that he was not “fully transparent” in his disclosures about past relationships with colleagues. He will be replaced by Chief Financial Officer Murray Auchincloss on an interim basis.
BP conducted an internal review last year after receiving allegations about personal relationships between Looney and other company employees.
During that review, Looney disclosed a “small number” of relationships that occurred before he became CEO in February 2020, and the oil and gas giant found that there had been no breach of company rules, BP said in a statement.
The company said it recently began a second investigation after receiving more allegations of a similar nature. Looney resigned after accepting that “he was not fully transparent in his previous disclosures,” BP said.
“The company has strong values and the board expects everyone at the company to behave in accordance with those values,” BP said. “All leaders in particular are expected to act as role models and to exercise good judgment in a way that earns the trust of others.”
BP said no
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