Tony Hayward, chief executive of BP, is about to leave the company. Altough BP said that “no final decision” has been made about possible management changes, it is likely that Hayward won’t be the chief executive of BP anymore. “BP notes the press speculation over the weekend regarding potential changes to management and the charge for the costs of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. BP confirms that no final decision has been made on these matters,” BP said in a statement. ”Tony Hayward remains our chief executive and has the full support of the board and senior management,” company spokesman Mark Salt told CNN Sunday.
Hayward joined BP in 1982 as a geologist, and currently makes 1.045 million pounds (US$1.6 million) a year as the company’s head. In 2009, he received a performance bonus of more than 2 million pounds plus other remuneration, bringing his total pay package to over 4 million. Hayward, who has been with the company for 28 years, became chief executive in 2007. New York Times reported yesterday that BP’s board was expected to name Robert Dudley as Hayward’s successor. He would be BP’s first American CEO.
BP is working on a $20 billion fund that will finance the clean-up of the mess in the Gulf, and the company also announced last week that it had sold properties in the United States, Canada and Egypt to Apache Corp. for $7 billion. Under pressure from the US government, BP has also announced that it will pay no more dividends to shareholders this year.