He’s done.
A day after he was grilled by Congress, BP chief executive Tony Hayward is being demoted. According to Britain’s Sky News, BP Managing Director Bob Dudley will take over day-to-day oversight of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill while BP’s chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg (he of the “small people” comment) will assume major PR duties. (Yes, you read that right—the BP executive who famously expressed his compassion for “the small people” will be tasked with enhancing the company’s public image.)
Isn’t BP playing with fire by letting the “small people” speaker in charge of PR?
The main reason for the shift is plain enough for anyone who’s been following the spill: BP executives acknowledge Hayward has blown it as the company’s face during the crisis. Svanberg, while defending the BP CEO, acknowledged the Hayward’s comments have not been helpful to the company’s efforts to control fallout from the disaster.
“It is clear Tony has made remarks that have upset people,” Svanberg tells Sky News. “This has now turned into a reputation matter, financial and political and that is why you will now see more of me.”
via Hayward relieved of managerial duties in BP shakeup – Yahoo! News.
June 18, 2010 at 11:49 am
He’s pro’ly grateful to go…
And anyway, he sold his stock before the gusher…
As for the gulf … they have to sit there and take it while they get bupkis…
June 18, 2010 at 11:56 am
No kidding. Geez, this guy’s salary is $337,000 p/mo.
June 18, 2010 at 12:26 pm
Well good looks like Tony will be getting his life back. He wasn’t happy about his vacation plans being disrupted. Now he can take a nice long holiday.
I can’t wait for Mr. Small People to take to the microphones. There is absolutely no telling what gems might roll off his tongue. OMFG they put this dude in charge of PR, LMAO! I didn’t realize LSD had made such a comeback in the UK, but maybe it’s just some kind of weird executive perk over there, LMAO!
June 18, 2010 at 12:30 pm
They might as well have put one of John Cleese’s characters in Mr. Samll People’s PR job. He’s going to do a heck of a job.
June 18, 2010 at 12:54 pm
Just so long as he gets his own bus! He can afford it after cashing out his stocks right before the blow up. He is NOT welcome under our bus!
June 18, 2010 at 1:37 pm
I think the substitution of Mr. Small People is meant as an insult, not an accident.
June 18, 2010 at 1:43 pm
http://rawstory.com/rs/2010/0618/halliburton-making-money-oil-spill/
looks like Halliburton’s purchase of Boots and Coots is finally beginning to get some mainstream coverage
June 18, 2010 at 1:46 pm
It’s about time.
June 18, 2010 at 2:52 pm
http://motherjones.com/environment/2010/06/new-drilling-leases-gulf-of-mexico
When the Gulf is a giant tarpit and of no use for anything but drilling oil, for what does one think it will be used?
I rest my case.
June 18, 2010 at 3:15 pm
Tony’s kind of thin skinned for a guy who makes his kind of salary, isn’t it?
Apparently Mr. Small People thinks he can fare better. We’ll see.
June 18, 2010 at 3:58 pm
Tony is just as thin skinned as POTUS. He’s not a politician. He was one of their geologist and worked his way up the corporate ladder. As for Mr. Small People, I look forward to his next gaffe. The guy was a hockey playing jock that ran Ericsson and now BP.
June 18, 2010 at 5:23 pm
When is POTUS going to be relieved of his duties….you know, going on dates, playing golf, having parties, so he could actually do some work!!
“Say What You Will…It Feels So Good”
June 18, 2010 at 5:40 pm
Geez PsstCmere, I wish I were a psychic. People sure are getting fed up with Poser in Chief. Did you catch the latest polls? http://thepage.time.com/obama-approval-falls-to-new-low/
June 18, 2010 at 5:55 pm
Ironic that you would mention the latest polls when you also point out that Tony Baloney Hawyard thumbed his nose at O-What’s-His-Name after screwing him big time by holding the gulf hostage as it became a tar pit…
Remember what “they” did to JFK when LBJ admitted, “Those SOB’s Will Never Embarrass Me Again”…
More here. I know, I know… it’s the prisonplanet, but still…
http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/august2006/300806jfk.htm
June 18, 2010 at 8:39 pm
I hear rumblings about HRC being the nominee for 2012 from Noonan and I have to wonder how they will remove POTUS first?
June 18, 2010 at 8:42 pm
Wishful thinking.
June 18, 2010 at 9:00 pm
Seriously, I think Noonan is losing it or knows something is up. She is not the only one to be putting out these pesky details. Fox covered it this morning. My only question while watching the morning clip was what are they supposed to do with the Won?
June 20, 2010 at 8:16 am
Maybe the could send TehOne to Cairo and let him dig around in the pyramids for several years (looking for a community to organize) while the rest of us recover from our rage and despair.
June 20, 2010 at 8:19 am
I think the sands at Giza would be an excellent site for him.
June 19, 2010 at 11:36 am
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100619/ap_on_bi_ge/us_gulf_oil_spill
…Hayward took a break from overseeing BP efforts to stem the undersea gusher in Gulf of Mexico so he could watch his 52-foot (16-meter) yacht “Bob” participate in the J.P. Morgan Asset Management Round the Island Race.
The boat, made by the Annapolis, Maryland-based boatbuilder Farr Yacht Design, has a list price of nearly $700,000.
The annual Round the Island Race is one of the world’s largest, attracting more than 1,700 boats and 16,000 sailors as famous yachtsmen compete with wealthy amateurs in the 50-nautical mile course around the island.
Robert Wine, a BP spokesman at the company’s Houston headquarters, said it was the first break that Hayward has had since the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded April 20, killing 11 workers and setting off the undersea oil gusher.
“He’s spending a few hours with his family at a weekend. I’m sure that everyone would understand that,” Wine said Saturday. “He will be back to deal with the response. It doesn’t detract from that at all.”
Why is this freak not in jail?
June 19, 2010 at 1:17 pm
He’s not in jail because that would mean lose lips which would sink certain ships.
June 19, 2010 at 5:37 pm
If you tried to dump a used quart of motor oil in the garbage you would be arrested. This guy dumps a couple of million gallons of crude oil a day into the Gulf and he’s on a yacht.
June 20, 2010 at 8:17 am
no kidding. I have 2 AA batteries that are looking for a recycling center so I don’t get arrested. (or my neighbors don’t attack me)
June 20, 2010 at 2:55 pm
jeebus, now they’re burning endangered sea turtles alive and preventing their rescue
http://rawstory.com/rs/2010/0620/bp-burning-sea-turtles-alive/
hell is way too good for these freaks.
June 20, 2010 at 5:45 pm
You didn’t know? It’s been going on for awhile.
June 20, 2010 at 6:23 pm
nope I’d missed this one.
June 20, 2010 at 7:16 pm
Aren’t you glad you did?