John Browne, Baron Browne of Madingley

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Lord Browne in May 2015

Edmund John Philip Browne, Baron Browne of Madingley FRS (born February 20, 1948 in Hamburg ) was Chief Executive Officer of the oil company BP from 1995 to 2007 . He has been Executive Chairman of LetterOne Energy and Chairman of the Supervisory Board of DEA since 2015.

Life

Browne was born in Hamburg as the son of a British army officer and a Hungarian Auschwitz survivor. His father worked, among other things, for the Anglo-Persian Oil Company , which later became British Petroleum (BP). Browne attended King's School in Ely and St John's College in Cambridge , from which he received a bachelor's degree in physics. He later did a Masters at Stanford Business School . In 2003 he was awarded an honorary doctorate from the Colorado School of Mines and elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences .

Careers at BP

In 1966, Browne's father placed him at BP while he was still studying. In 1969, Browne began working as an engineer in the BP oil fields in Anchorage , Alaska . He remained associated with the company throughout his life and was proposed as company chairman in 1995.

On July 25, 2006, BP announced that Brown would leave the top position in December 2008 due to the age limit (60 years). On January 12, 2007 it was announced that Browne would retire in July 2007 and Tony Hayward would take over his position .

resignation

On May 1, 2007, Lord Browne surprisingly resigned from his BP post.

Browne justified his early resignation with the lifting of an injunction against a newspaper group that protected him from reporting on his private life. Jeff Chevalier, with whom Browne had a four-year homosexual relationship, wanted to reach the press with private details. He accuses Browne of abusing BP's resources, which Browne denies. As a reason for his voluntary resignation, Browne gave to "save the company unnecessary embarrassment". “During my 41 years with BP, I have always kept my private life separate from business. I've always viewed my sexuality as a private matter, something that is kept secret. "

Peter Sutherland , BP chairman, regretted Browne's resignation. "It is a tragedy that, as an honorable man, under these painful circumstances, he will be forced to resign." Browne is expected to lose £ 3.5 million of his severance package due to his early resignation , and possibly an additional £ 12 million in shares.

Environmental awareness

New logo

Browne began several preventative measures against climate change in 1997 and pledged to reduce BP's emissions by 10% from 1990 levels by 2010 , despite the company's growth .

2003 commissioned Browne advertising agency Ogilvy & Mather with a 200 million US dollars expensive rebranding . As a result, the slogan "Beyond Petroleum" and a new logo were introduced.

In 2005 the BP Alternative Energy division was founded. However, his successor Hayward reversed this step in 2009 and closed BP Solar in 2011.

Further professional steps

In early 2011, Browne was under discussion as the new CEO for Glencore . Instead, however, Simon Murray was selected.

author

Since 2010 three books by Browne have been published, including a kind of autobiography , Beyond Business (2010), and an essayistic examination of the contemporary social loss of reputation through “Outing”, The Glass Closet: Why Coming Out is Good Business (Edition WH Allen 2014).

His 2013 science book Seven Elements That Have Changed The World: Iron, Carbon, Gold, Silver, Uranium, Titanium, Silicon (Weidenfeld & Nicolson) was shortlisted for the Royal Society Winton Prize for Science Books 2014.

Private life

Coat of arms of the Baron Browne of Madingley

On July 22, 1998, he was beaten by Queen Elizabeth II to the Knight Bachelor .

On June 28, 2001, he was promoted to Life Peer with the title Baron Browne of Madingley , of Cambridge in the County of Cambridgeshire, and has been a Crossbencher in the House of Lords ever since .

Lord Browne lists cigars, antique furniture , operas and art as personal interests . With an annual wage of around £ 5.7 million (2004), he was one of the highest paid directors in the UK.

In July 2006 he was elected a member of the Royal Society . From 2006 to 2011 he was President of the Royal Academy of Engineering .

From September 2006 to August 2007 he was also Chairman of the private equity firm Apax Partners .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ BP: John Browne resigns. In: manager magazin . May 1, 2007, accessed November 9, 2015 .
  2. ^ BP boss John Browne resigns prematurely. In: FAZ.net . May 2, 2007, accessed December 16, 2014 .
  3. ↑ Terry Macalister: BP dropped green energy projects worth billions to focus on fossil fuels. In: The Guardian . April 16, 2015, accessed November 9, 2015 .
  4. ^ Peston's Picks: Browne not going to Glencore. In: BBC . April 14, 2011, accessed November 9, 2015 .
  5. ↑ Would Breaking `The Glass Closet 'Have Been Good For BP? Forbes July 7, 2014, accessed November 11, 2014
  6. ↑ Materials book wins Royal Society Winton Prize , BBC November 10, 2014, accessed November 11, 2014
  7. ^ The London Gazette : No. 55229, p. 8944 , August 18, 1998.
  8. ↑ Knights and Dames at Leigh Rayment's Peerage
  9. ^ The London Gazette : No. 56262, p. 1 , July 3, 2001.
  10. ↑ Peerage: Browne of Madingley at Leigh Rayment's Peerage
  11. ^ Royal Society: John Browne
  12. ↑ RAENG: Lord Browne of Madingley FREng FRS
  13. ↑ Julia Kollewe: Lord Browne leaves private equity firm Apax. In: The Guardian . August 24, 2007, accessed November 9, 2015 .
personal data
SURNAME Browne, John, Baron Browne of Madingley
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Browne, Edmund John Philip, Baron Browne of Madingley
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British manager, former CEO of BP
DATE OF BIRTH February 20, 1948
PLACE OF BIRTH Hamburg