CEO of BP steps down three months earlier than planned

John Browne stepped down as chief executive of oil giant BP on Tuesday, three months earlier than planned, after losing a legal battle to prevent the publication of claims that he let a former boyfriend use company resources.

London-based BP said that Tony Hayward, 49, who was scheduled to replace Browne on Aug. 1, took over the position immediately. BP said allegations that Browne misused resources were “unfounded or insubstantive.”

Browne’s decision followed a ruling by the High Court in London, released Tuesday, that he lied in his bid to block publication by the Mail on Sunday of the boyfriend’s account of their four-year relationship.

Browne, 59, built BP into what was once Europe’s biggest company through more than $100 billion of acquisitions. In the last two years, he faced shareholder wrath over a deadly Texas refinery blast and oil leaks in Alaska.

“Hayward will no doubt drive the company forward as best he can,” said Jason Kenney, an analyst with ING Wholesale Banking in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Details of Browne’s four-year relationship with Canadian Jeff Chevalier were published in court documents after Britain’s highest court refused to hear Browne’s appeal for a publication ban. Chevalier claims Browne supported him with BP “resources and manpower,” and that Browne paid him a “large sum of money” over their relationship, the documents say.

“In my 41 years with BP I have kept my private life separate from my business life,” Browne said in a statement. “These allegations are full of misleading and erroneous claims. In particular, I deny categorically any allegations of improper conduct relating to BP.”

Shares of BP closed unchanged at $67.32.

Browne acknowledged that he had lied to the court about how he first met Chevalier and that he later retracted and apologized for the untruthful account.

He said in the statement that the decision to bring forward his retirement “is a voluntary step which I am making to avoid unnecessary embarrassment and distraction to the company at this important time.”

BP said Browne would forgo some bonus payments worth as much as $31 million as a result of his resignation.