Ousted BP chair Albert Manifold rejects ‘lies’ over his conduct
Albert Manifold, CEO of CRH Plc, speaks during a Bloomberg Television interview on Tuesday, August 19, 2014 in London, United Kingdom.
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overthrown blood pressure Chairman Albert Manifold has rejected “lies” about his behavior, saying he “pressured a lot and challenged people directly” during his short tenure at the British oil major.
BP’s board of directors on Tuesday announced Removal of Manifold due to “serious concerns” about governance standards, oversight and conduct.
Numerous media outlets have reported that Manifold, the former boss of Irish construction materials giant CRH, acted aggressively towards different colleagues during his nearly eight months at BP, citing unnamed sources.
In his scathing response on Thursday, Manifold said he accepted the board’s decision to remove him as chairman but did not accept that “lies could be lied about me or that anyone should not be allowed to hide behind anonymity when commenting on my time at BP”.
Manifold said he felt his priorities of simplifying business, driving change in costs and strengthening the energy sector’s bottom line were not always shared by everyone, but “there is a considerable distance between the urgent direction of an organization and the characterization of my behavior now being put forward.”
He added that during his time as chairman of BP, no one at the company raised any issues with him about his behavior.
Manifold signed off on the letter by describing BP as a company with “a great future” and saying CEO Meg O’Neill, Chief Financial Officer Kate Thomson and executive colleagues were “among the best people I have ever worked with”.
CNBC has contacted BP and is awaiting a response. A BP spokesperson referred to CNBC’s statement published Tuesday when asked to respond to Manifold’s initial comments on Wednesday.
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