BP’s former CEO is forfeiting $40 million in severance for misleading company board

By Jordan Valinsky, CNN

New York (CNN) — Former BP CEO Bernard Looney is forfeiting about $40 million in severance because the company’s board determined he engaged in “serious misconduct” for not fully disclosing his relationships with employees that led to his dismissal.

“Following careful consideration, the board has concluded that, in providing inaccurate and incomplete assurances in July 2022, Mr. Looney knowingly misled the board,” BP said in a release Wednesday.

“The board has determined that this amounts to serious misconduct, and as such Mr. Looney has been dismissed without notice,” effective on December 13, the statement said.

Looney resigned in September after admitting that he had not been “fully transparent” about “historical relationships with colleagues.”

In May 2022, BP’s “board received and reviewed allegations, with the support of external legal counsel, relating to Mr. Looney’s conduct in respect of personal relationships with company colleagues,” the company said in September with the information coming from an anonymous source, according to the statement.

During that review, Looney disclosed “a small number of historical relationships with colleagues prior to becoming CEO,” but no breach of the company’s code of conduct was found.

BP says that Looney will receive no further salary, pension allowance or benefits, and he also won’t get his 2023 annual bonus and has to repay half of the cash portion of his 2022 annual bonus.

Looney, 53, served just under four years at the helm of BP (BP) but began work at the London-based oil and gas company in 1991 at the age of 21. He spent the entirety of his career with BP, received a promotion to chief executive officer in July 2020 and oversaw efforts to transition the firm into an integrated energy company with a focus on reducing emissions.

Murray Auchincloss, the company’s CFO, remains as BP’s CEO on an interim basis.

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