Former BP boss stripped of £32m for ‘misleading’ board over workplace relationships

The former boss of BP will forfeit more than £32m in actual and potential pay for misleading its board about workplace relationships, the company has announced.

It comes after Bernard Looney stepped down as the oil giant’s chief executive in September following allegations he failed to fully disclose details of romances with colleagues.

The figure is believed to be the largest amount ever forfeited by a former chief executive in the UK.

The 53-year-old was paid more than £10m in wages, bonuses and other benefits last year.

BP previously said it was first alerted to claims about Mr Looney in 2022, but a review found there had been no breach of company rules.

The firm’s board said Mr Looney then gave assurances “regarding disclosure of past personal relationships, as well as his future behaviour”.

However “further allegations of a similar nature” later emerged and a fresh investigation was launched.

A BP spokesperson said: “Following careful consideration, the board has concluded that, in providing inaccurate and incomplete assurances in July 2022, Mr Looney knowingly misled the board.

“The board has determined that this amounts to serious misconduct.”

They added Mr Looney had been formally dismissed on Wednesday and “this decision had the effect of bringing Mr Looney’s 12-month notice period to an immediate end”.

There has been no immediate comment from Mr Looney and it is unclear if he will challenge the decision.

Read more from business:
Struggling fashion site in rescue deal talks
UK economy in surprise decline in October
Tesla recalls more than two million cars

BP said Mr Looney “informed the company that he had not been fully transparent” as he resigned in September.

The total of £32.4m he will forfeit includes salary, pension and bonus payments, along with share awards, the company said.

It will also “claw back” some cash already paid to Mr Looney, including 50% of a bonus paid to him for the 2022 financial year.

The figure is far higher than in similar high-profile cases, such as the £7.6m that former NatWest boss Dame Alison Rose recently lost out on.

Mr Looney took office in February 2020 with a vow to reinvent the 114-year-old company, including plans for it to achieve zero net emissions by 2050.

He had spent his entire career at BP after joining as an engineer aged 21 back in 1991.

Following his resignation, BP’s chief financial officer Murray Auchincloss was appointed chief executive on an interim basis.