12th Jan 2007 16:10
BP PLC12 January 2007 January 12, 2007 BP ANNOUNCES LORD BROWNE SUCCESSION PLAN BP announced today that after more than a decade in the CEO role Lord Browne hasdecided to retire as chief executive at the end of June 2007. The board is pleased to announce that Tony Hayward, currently BP's head ofexploration and production, will succeed Lord Browne following his retirement asgroup chief executive. Peter Sutherland, BP's chairman, said: "John Browne is the greatest Britishbusinessman of his generation and has transformed BP into one of the biggestenergy groups in the world. His performance over the past 12 years has beenextraordinary, which is no doubt why he has constantly been named by his fellowCEOs as the most impressive businessman in Britain. His vision, intellect,leadership and skill have been a wonder to behold and he will be a difficult actto follow. "Last summer, John and I had agreed that he would stay as CEO until the end of2008. John decided that it would be in the company's interest to name asuccessor now in order to provide an orderly transition. Having made thatdecision, which the board fully supports, we came to the conclusion that a sixmonth handover would be more appropriate than 18 months. "It is a testament to John's managerial skill that BP is blessed with havingsuch an impressive managerial top bench to choose from and John and I aredelighted to be able to announce that Tony Hayward will be succeeding him fromJuly 1, 2007. Tony has an excellent track record and extensive knowledge of thesector and will be able to draw on John's wealth of knowledge over the next sixmonths." During Lord Browne's tenure as the chief executive of BP he has presided over afivefold increase in the company's market capitalisation to £104.6 billion andprofits to $22.3 billion; while the share price has gone up around 250 per centto 532 pence and earnings per share have gone up over 600 per cent. Lord Browne said: "It has been a privilege to have had the opportunity to turnBP into an international company at the forefront of the energy industry. Weclearly have important issues still to deal with which I am determined toaddress. I am pleased that Peter and I have been able to work together todevelop a successor in Tony in whom I have every confidence." Note to Editors: Biographies of Lord Browne and Tony Hayward are attached. Dr A.B. HAYWARD Tony Hayward was appointed to the main board of BP in 2003, becoming chiefexecutive officer of BP's exploration and production segment responsible for thegroup's assets and operational activities relating to the discovery andproduction of hydrocarbons. He joined BP in 1982 and, following a series of technical and commercial rolesin BP Exploration in London, Aberdeen, France, China and Glasgow, in 1992 hemoved to Colombia as exploration manager. In 1995 he became president of the BPgroup in Venezuela. In 1997 Dr Hayward returned to London as a director of BP Exploration andfollowing the merger of BP and Amoco, in 1999 he became a group vice presidentand a member of the upstream executive committee. He was appointed grouptreasurer in 2000 where his responsibilities included global treasuryoperations, corporate finance and mergers and acquisitions. He was appointed anexecutive vice president in 2002 becoming chief operating officer forexploration and production later that year. He is a non-executive and senior independent director of Corus Group, wasappointed Companion of the Chartered Management Institute in September 2005 andwas a member of Citibank's Advisory Board between 2000 and 2003. Dr Hayward was born in 1957. He is married with two children. He is a keensportsman and enjoys sailing, triathlons and watching football, rugby andcricket. The LORD BROWNE of Madingley Lord Browne is Group Chief Executive of BP p.l.c. Born in 1948, he joined BP in 1966 as a university apprentice. He holds a degreein Physics from Cambridge University and an MS in Business from StanfordUniversity, California. He has also been awarded Honorary Doctorates from HeriotWatt University (D.Eng) and Robert Gordon University (D.Tech), Dundee University(LLD), Warwick University (D.Sc), Hull University (D.Sc), Cranfield University(D.Sc), Sheffield Hallam University (Hon. Duniv), University of Buckingham(D.Sc), Leuven University, Belgium (D.Sc), Thunderbird (LLD), University ofNotre Dame (LLD), Colorado School of Mines (D.Eng), D Mendeleyev University ofChemical Technology of Russia, Arizona State University (DHLitt). He is anHonorary Fellow of St John's College, Cambridge and a Senior Member of StAntony's College, Oxford. He is a Fellow and President of the Royal Academy ofEngineering, a Fellow of the Royal Society, a Fellow of the Institute of Miningand Metallurgy, a Fellow of the Institute of Physics, a Fellow of the Instituteof Petroleum, a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, a Companionof the Institute of Management, an Honorary Fellow of the Institute of ChemicalEngineers, an Honorary Fellow of the Geological Society, an Honorary Fellow ofthe Institution of Mechanical Engineers and an Honorary Fellow of the RoyalSociety of Chemistry. Between 1969 and 1983, he held a variety of exploration and production posts inAnchorage, New York, San Francisco, London and Canada. In 1984 he became Group Treasurer and Chief Executive of BP FinanceInternational. In April 1986, he took up the position of Executive Vice President and ChiefFinancial Officer of The Standard Oil Company in Cleveland, Ohio. In 1987,following the BP/Standard merger, in addition to his position as Executive VicePresident and Chief Financial Officer of BP America, he was appointed ChiefExecutive Officer of Standard Oil Production Company. In 1989, he became Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of BPExploration based in London. In September 1991, he joined the Board of TheBritish Petroleum Company p.l.c. as a Managing Director. He was appointed GroupChief Executive on June 10, 1995. Following the merger of BP and Amoco, hebecame Group Chief Executive of BP Amoco on December 31, 1998. He is a non-executive director of Goldman Sachs. He was a director of IntelCorporation from 1997 - 2006, a Trustee of The British Museum from 1995-2005, amember of the Supervisory Board of DaimlerChrysler AG from 1998 - 2001 and anon-executive director of SmithKline Beecham from 1996-1999. He is Chairman of the International Advisory Board of the School of Economicsand Management, Tsinghua University, Chairman of the Cambridge Judge BusinessSchool and Emeritus Chairman of the Advisory Board of the Stanford GraduateSchool of Business. He is a Trustee of the Cambridge University Foundation, anda member of the Guild of Cambridge Benefactors. He is a member (and formerChairman) of the British American Business Inc. He is a member of the board ofCatalyst; he is an honorary Trustee of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, anhonorary counsellor of the Conference Board, Inc., a Fellow of the AmericanAcademy of Arts and Sciences, a Senior Fellow of the Foreign Policy Association,a Trustee of the Eisenhower Fellowship and a Vice President of the Prince ofWales Business Leaders Forum. In 1999, the Royal Academy of Engineering awarded him the Prince Philip Medalfor his outstanding contribution to the field of Engineering. The StanfordBusiness School Alumni Association presented him with the Ernest C ArbuckleAward in 2001, in recognition of excellence in the field of managementleadership. Other awards include the Henry Shaw Medal of the Missouri BotanicalGardens, the Gold Medal of the Institute of Management, the Institute of EnergyMelchett Medal (2001), the Society of Petroleum Engineers Public Service Award(2002), the Institution of Chemical Engineers Commemorative Medal (2003), theinaugural Channing Corporate Citizenship Award from British American BusinessInc. (2004), the World Petroleum Congress Dewhurst Award (2005), the Dwight DEisenhower Leadership Award from the Business Council for InternationalUnderstanding. He was voted Most Admired CEO by Management Today from 1999 - 2002.He was knighted in 1998 and made a life peer in 2001. - ENDS - This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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