BP Fires Its Chairman For "Abusive Behavior." A Governance Reminder For The Energy Sleeve.
BP (BP) announced Tuesday that its board has unanimously decided that chairman Albert Manifold would no longer serve, and that he would depart immediately. He had been in the role less than a year, having taken the chair last July.
The reasons were unusually direct for a London-listed major. From senior independent director Amanda Blanc: "The board has been surprised and disappointed to learn of governance oversight and conduct issues it deems unacceptable and has taken decisive action."
What the WSJ confirmed through people familiar with the matter: concerns about Manifold's verbally abusive and bullying behavior toward both junior and senior employees, and a finding that he had shared privileged information with people who weren't supposed to have it while withholding information from the board itself.
Manifold didn't respond to requests for comment. BP shares dropped 4% in London on Tuesday and U.S.-listed shares fell 3.8%.
Why This Matters For An Energy-Sleeve Decision
We don't own BP in any of the model portfolios. That's been the right call. BP has now had three CEOs and three chairmen in roughly three years, including a CEO who resigned over an undisclosed relationship and a chairman who resigned amid a financial-conduct review. The governance instability has cost shareholders meaningfully relative to ExxonMobil (XOM), Chevron (CVX), and Shell (SHEL).
The Read-Across To Our Energy Sleeve
ExxonMobil (XOM) — structurally strong. Darren Woods has been CEO since 2017, gave clear capital-allocation guidance, Pioneer integration on track. Stay long.
Chevron (CVX) — Hess deal closed, leadership steady. Mike Wirth's succession plan is being telegraphed publicly. The Guyana asset is now consolidated. Stay long — Tuesday's CVX weakness on weaker oil and the Dow dragging is a reinforcement opportunity, not a thesis change.
Cheniere Energy (LNG) — structurally distinct. LNG export terminal operator, not an integrated oil company. Insulated from Iran headlines. Stay long.
Williams Companies (WMB) — midstream, dividend yield 5.2%. Pipeline asset base, governance has been clean for years. Stay long.
The Real Read-Through
Energy is a long-duration, capital-intensive business where the CEO and chairman matter more than they do in software or financials. The European supermajors — BP and Shell especially — have spent the last five years trying to figure out their post-energy-transition identity, and the constant management turnover is a symptom of that strategic uncertainty.
The U.S. integrated names (XOM, CVX) and the U.S. midstream / LNG names (LNG, WMB, EPD) have stable management, clear capital plans, and shareholder-friendly capital returns. That's why our energy sleeve has been deliberately U.S.-heavy.
The Tuesday news doesn't change anything in the model portfolios. It does reinforce the discipline of buying governance, not just barrels.