Tony Hayward Gets His Life Back, And His Golden Parachute

Well, it looks like we won’t have Tony Hayward to kick around anymore:

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — BP PLC  Chief Executive Tony Hayward will step down from his post in October and be reassigned to BP’s joint venture in Russia, The Associated Press reported Monday, citing an unidentified official close to the matter.

By some reports, Hayward will also be getting a parting gift totaling ten million British Pounds.

Nice work if you can get it.

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Doug Mataconis
About Doug Mataconis
Doug Mataconis held a B.A. in Political Science from Rutgers University and J.D. from George Mason University School of Law. He joined the staff of OTB in May 2010 and contributed a staggering 16,483 posts before his retirement in January 2020. He passed far too young in July 2021.

Comments

  1. reid says:

    To the gulag!

  2. Zelsdorf Ragshaft III says:

    If Tony Hayward is responsible for BPs problems because he was CEO, then Obama is responsible for what is wrong with America since he took office. To suggest Hayard is somehow responsible for actions that took place under his watch but only that he is reponsible for that spill because he was CEO, but not present at the well. Then I agree he is reponsible. But to suggest he made decisions which led to this environmental disaster would need a lot more evidence than has been presented here or elsewhere.

    By the way Doug. Did you know the first lady has reserved 30 rooms at a 5 star hotel in Spain for her planned vactions next month? That sure is reflective of the Obama’s understanding what the nation is feeling. I guess one of those rooms must be reserved for you Doug in thanks for your water carrying for them.

  3. So he’s been sent to the Eastern Front? ;>

  4. Brummagem Joe says:

    He was a scapegoat for what was basically an industrial accident. A serious one and maybe negligence was involved on the part of the rig operator which wasn’t BP btw. But the American people have their scalp since he committed the cardinal sin, not paying due obeisance to American political correctness. Tony will be alright I’m sure.

  5. anjin-san says:

    He was a scapegoat for what was basically an industrial accident.

    The Wall St. Journal has done some good reporting on BP cutting corners on safety. You might want to check it out and get informed.

  6. I have to object here: the situation with Deepwater Horizon was well beyond simple negligence.

    BP had on three separate occasions done internal studies that concluded there was a pervasive failure to follow saftey procedures and environmental rules: http://www.propublica.org/article/years-of-internal-bp-probes-warned-that-neglect-could-lead-to-accidents

    Haliburton knew that current cementing practices created a risk of hydrate destabilization in deepwater environments: http://www.aade.org/houston/study/Fluids/11182009/F%20Tahmourpour%20Deepwater%20Cementing.pdf

    Yet they chose to continue participating in drilling in one of the world’s biggest hydrate pockets.

    BP knew there were series safety issues at the wellsite a year ago: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/30/us/30rig.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all

    Yet they didn’t shut it down, even when they started having leak problems as far back as February: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-06-17/bp-struggled-with-cracks-in-gulf-well-as-early-as-february-documents-show.html

    Yet BP’s only response to this seems to have been to deliberately disable their safety systems: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jul/23/deepwater-horizon-oil-rig-alarms

    This is not negligence; this was outright recklessness if not willful. This sort of depraved indifference shouldn’t have resulted in people like Hayward merely losing their jobs; they ought to be in prison.

  7. Brummagem Joe says:

    anjin-san says:
    Tuesday, July 27, 2010 at 01:13
    “The Wall St. Journal has done some good reporting on BP cutting corners on safety. You might want to check it out and get informed.”

    I’ve read the WSJ most days for over 40 years. I also said there could have been some negligence involved (although you and others don’t seem to understand that this operation was actually being conducted by the rig operators Transocean when the incident occurred). And I don’t have much taste for witchhunts.

  8. anjin-san says:

    I’ve read the WSJ most days for over 40 years.

    I see. Apparently you just don’t understand it. BP decided to use a less costly, riskier overall approach for the well. BP executives continually overrode decisions made on the rig in order to get the well into production sooner. Holding someone responsible for their actions is not a “witch hunt”.

  9. wr says:

    Anjin-San — Holding someone who is poor or minority responsible for their actions is justice. Holding a rich person responsible is a witch hunt.

    Glad I could clear that up for you.

  10. Steve Plunk says:

    Has anyone provided evidence that Tony Hayward showed negligence or even knew about the problems? Did he personally approve the cutting of corners? Should CEO’s be responsible for the negligence of their subcontractors of they didn’t know?

    Brummagen Joe is right, it’s a witch hunt so we have someone to blame. As for holding someone responsible we have a system in place for that not to mention BP has set aside billions of dollars. How responsible should we make Mr. Hayward?

  11. Has anyone provided evidence that Tony Hayward showed negligence or even knew about the problems?

    Yes, please see above comments.

    Also, a charge of negligence isn’t saying Tony Hayward knew there was a problem, it’s saying he SHOULD have known there was a problem. If he knew there was a problem (and again I’d say he did as per the previously presented evidence) and still did nothing, he’s guilty of recklessness, not negligences. This is an important distinction because, in our legal system, the point where one moves from negligence to recklessness is generally also the point where one moves from civil to criminal liability.