BP fires chair Albert Manifold over serious concerns over conduct
Mitchell Ferman And Ruth David
BP unexpectedly fired chairman Albert Manifold just a few months after taking office, citing serious concerns about “management standards, oversight and conduct”, prolonging a period of turmoil at the UK oil major.
BP has had three chief executive officers in recent years, while Manifold’s predecessor left in 2025 under pressure from activist investor Elliott Investment Management. This latest sudden departure raises new questions about the company’s processes at a time when it is trying to rebound from years of poor performance, restructure its balance sheet and focus on its core oil and gas business.
The chairman’s ouster reinforces the authority of Meg O’Neill, Big Oil’s first female CEO and BP’s first outside hire for a senior position, who joined from Woodside Energy in Australia on April 1 and moved to reshape the company. Manifold, a former construction materials executive, has become hugely popular with many major investors for his decisive moves to regain investor confidence since his appointment late last year.
“Manifold has earned a reputation for trying to simplify the company and accelerate the turnaround,” Berenberg analyst Henry Tarr said in a note.
“His sudden dismissal will raise questions about the company’s strategy and the reasons for the ongoing loss of executives and board members.”
BP’s shares fell 4 percent to £5.29 in London.
“The board was surprised and disappointed to learn of governance oversight and issues it deemed unacceptable and took decisive action,” senior independent director Amanda Blanc said in a statement. he said.
high pressure
Manifold stepped into the chairman role on October 1 at a time of intense pressure on BP, with Elliott pushing for immediate change. The company’s efforts to reset its strategy after the failed transition to renewable energy failed to win the support of investors. His predecessor, Helge Lund, had received a significant protest vote against his re-election to the board that year, with only 76 percent support.
Although the new chairman has no oil and gas experience, he has more than quadrupled the shares of Irish construction materials firm CRH Plc during his 11 years as CEO. After joining BP, he urged his employees to act faster to reverse failed green bets and increase investment in fossil fuels. He took responsibility for a comprehensive review of the company’s portfolio to weed out underperforming assets.
Its first big move was last year’s abrupt sacking of CEO Murray Auchincloss and the appointment of O’Neill (previously chairman of Australia’s Woodside Energy, where he spent four years in the top role).
Manifold’s initial moves were welcomed by Elliott, with whom he has met repeatedly, people familiar with the matter said. Elliott declined to comment.
New CEO
Just two weeks after taking up his post, O’Neill announced that the company would return to a more traditional upstream-downstream model, a move that continued the reversal of changes made under Auchincloss’s predecessor, Bernard Looney. Looney was forced to resign by the BP board in September 2023 after failing to disclose past relationships with colleagues.
The board appointed Ian Tyler as interim president; He said BP’s leadership still “has a deep belief in the strategic direction we have set” and that he has been “very impressed with Meg O’Neill since she took over as CEO.”
Renewed leadership uncertainty could revive questions about whether BP could become a takeover target. A long period of speculation last year eventually led rival Shell to announce that it had no intention of bidding. Shell later agreed to buy Canadian oil and gas producer ARC Resources Ltd. for $13.6 billion.
Manifold’s short tenure as chairman has been marked by some controversy – the company faced a shareholder backlash after refusing to put an activist group’s resolution to a vote at its annual general meeting last month.
Two resolutions proposed by the administration, allowing fully virtual annual meetings and rescinding previously approved climate-related disclosure obligations, were rejected. Manifold received a lower-than-usual share of the votes confirming his re-election to the board.
However, before news of Manifold’s departure, investors had welcomed many of the changes he had initiated. BP’s shares had outperformed some of its rivals as it moved to shore up its balance sheet, but its decision to suspend share buybacks in February left the company alone among the top five oil giants without a share buyback programme.
“With the resurgence of share prices so far this year, BP should reap the benefits of a strategic reset,” said Lindsey Stewart, director of institutional investor content at Morningstar.
“Instead, the company has named its third CEO and now its third president in less than three years. It is clear that taking control of corporate governance and strategy at the company should be the priority of the interim president and his eventual successor.”
Bloomberg
The Business Briefing newsletter delivers big stories, exclusive news and expert insights. Sign up to receive it every weekday morning.
