BP shares plunge as chairman is ousted over 'serious' conduct concerns

Shares of BP fell as much as 9% in London on Tuesday after the British oil giant's board announced the immediate, unanimous removal of its chairman, Albert Manifold, over what it described as "serious concerns" relating to governance, oversight and conduct. The stock, which has been one of the strongest performers in the global energy sector since the outbreak of the US-Iran conflict in late February, recovered partially during the session to close down around 4% — but the reversal raised fresh questions about whether BP's long-sought governance stability was as durable as its year-to-date share performance had suggested.

Manifold, a former chief executive of Irish building materials giant CRH who had joined BP as chair in October 2025, was removed after just seven months in the role. Reuters reported that four sources with knowledge of the matter cited alleged patterns of aggressive and verbally abusive behavior toward colleagues across multiple levels of the organization. The Wall Street Journal added that the board had been told Manifold was also involved in mishandling privileged company information — sharing it with individuals who should not have had access, while simultaneously withholding information from the board itself. According to one Reuters source, a whistleblower report had provided the board with the material necessary to establish a pattern rather than isolated conduct.

What It Means for BP's Investment Thesis

For investment professionals and their clients with positions in BP, Tuesday's events demand a reassessment — though not necessarily a wholesale revision — of the thesis that has driven one of the more compelling energy sector stories of 2026.

BP entered the year in a strategically advantageous position. Unlike ExxonMobil and Shell, which derive significant production from the Persian Gulf region now disrupted by the Iran conflict, BP has minimal Gulf-region output. As Bloomberg reported in late April, BP emerged from the first quarter of the conflict as the top-performing stock among oil supermajors, reaping what it described as "exceptional" results from its oil trading division. First-quarter profit more than doubled to $3.2 billion. The company secured Trump administration approval in March for its first new Gulf of Mexico project since the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster. New CEO Meg O'Neill, the former Woodside Energy chief who assumed the BP role on 1 April, has been well received by analysts who see her oil and gas credentials as a credible fit for the company's renewed fossil-fuel focus.

None of that has changed as a result of Tuesday's announcement. BP's strategic direction, its financial performance, and its operational position remain intact. The departure of a chairman who had been in the role for less than a year does not, by itself, alter the company's production capacity, its capital allocation framework, or its hedged exposure to continued oil price strength.

The governance discount, however, is real and widening. The New York Times reported that analysts at RBC Capital Markets wrote they were "yet again opining on another unexpected change in senior personnel at BP," and that if the company continues to stumble, its shares would become more attractive to potential acquirers. Barclays analyst Lydia Rainforth said serious questions needed to be asked about how BP selected Manifold in the first place. "His appointment appears to be another misstep by the board," she wrote, adding that the sheer number of personnel changes should concern investors.

Morningstar's Lindsey Stewart, director of institutional investor content, described BP as having "the most volatile boardroom" of the oil supermajors. "With a resurgent share price so far this year, BP should be taking credit for the rewards of its strategic reset," Stewart said. "Instead, the company is on its third CEO and now its third chairman in under three years. It's clear that getting a grip on corporate governance and strategy at the company must be a priority."

The Prior Leadership Record

BP's governance instability predates Manifold. Bernard Looney resigned as CEO in September 2023 after acknowledging he had not been transparent with the board about personal relationships with colleagues. Murray Auchincloss, appointed to succeed him, departed abruptly in December 2025 with no clear explanation. Helge Lund, the previous chairman, attracted a historic 24% vote against his reappointment at the 2025 AGM before departing. Manifold himself received only 81.8% shareholder support at BP's April 2026 AGM — well below the near-100% typical for directors — after proxy adviser Glass Lewis recommended a vote against him over BP's exclusion of a shareholder resolution from the meeting agenda.

That shareholder vote, in retrospect, may have been an early signal. Activist investors had noted that even a 5% vote against a board member was considered a significant rebuke; 18% was extraordinary.

Elliott Management, the activist hedge fund that has built a stake of around 5% in BP and had been among Manifold's backers within the investment community, declined to comment. Elliott's support had been seen as providing Manifold with a degree of protection from investor pressure. That protection, it turns out, did not extend to the conduct concerns raised internally.

The Interim and the Successor

Ian Tyler, a former chief executive of Balfour Beatty who joined BP's board in April 2025, has been appointed interim chairman with immediate effect. The company has said a search for a permanent successor will begin promptly.

For investment professionals assessing the implications, the composition and credibility of the permanent successor appointment will matter considerably. The Manifold appointment — described by Amanda Blanc, BP's senior independent director, as the result of a "rigorous and comprehensive global search" — lasted seven months and ended in disgrace. A second failed appointment would materially increase the strategic risk premium the market attaches to BP stock.

BP's year-to-date gain of approximately 20%, even after Tuesday's decline, reflects the genuine operational and strategic improvements underway at the company, and the fortuitous positioning that has allowed it to outperform rivals during the Iran conflict. The question for advisors and portfolio managers is whether those gains are sustainable in an environment where the company's board is, once again, in transition — and whether the eventual permanent chair appointment will finally provide the stable governance platform the business has been seeking since 2023.

At current oil prices, BP's cash generation capacity is substantial. The governance discount is a drag, not a dealbreaker. But it is a drag that has now been applied, in one form or another, for the better part of three years.