BP’s board unanimously removed Chairman Albert Manifold on Tuesday, sending the stock down nearly 10% in early trading. The move triggered a brief halt in BP shares before they recovered some ground, closing down around 4%.
The board cited “serious concerns related to governance standards, oversight and conduct.” BP did not go into specifics in its official statement, but four sources familiar with the matter told Reuters that Manifold had behaved aggressively toward colleagues across the company.
One source said a whistleblower report gave the board enough evidence to identify a pattern of unacceptable behavior.
Manifold, who took the chair role in October 2025, pushed back hard. In an emailed statement to Bloomberg, he said he was “removed without warning and without explanation” and vowed to challenge what he called a “false narrative.”
Manifold had only been in the role eight months. He came in with no prior energy industry experience, having previously run building materials firm CRH, where he boosted the share price and moved its primary listing to the US.
This latest departure adds to a long list of leadership changes at BP. The company has now had five CEOs since 2020. Former CEO Bernard Looney was fired in 2023 for lying to the board about personal relationships with colleagues. His successor, Murray Auchincloss, departed abruptly in December 2025.
Meg O’Neill, former Woodside CEO and Big Oil’s first female CEO, was appointed to replace Auchincloss and is expected to accelerate BP’s shift back to oil and gas.
Ian Tyler, a BP board member since last year and former chief of Balfour Beatty, has been named interim chairman.
Despite the chaos, BP’s board said it has “deep conviction” in its current strategy and the company is “moving at pace.”
Activist investor Elliott Investment Management, which holds around a 5% stake in BP and had supported many of Manifold’s strategic moves, declined to comment on his removal.
Barclays analyst Lydia Rainforth said the wider board’s decision-making process now faces “serious questions.”
TD Cowen analyst Jason Gabelman noted that Manifold had been seen as a potential driver of faster change, including accelerating investment in oil and gas and simplifying the business structure. He warned that continued leadership turnover could slow that pace.
Morningstar’s Lindsey Stewart called BP’s boardroom “the most volatile of the oil supermajors,” pointing out that the company is now on its third CEO and third chairman in under three years.
Despite the turbulence at the top, BP has outperformed rival Shell and the broader FTSE 100 since Manifold joined in October 2025. Boosted by higher crude prices and strong trading profits, BP is also the second-best performing oil supermajor since the Iran conflict began in February.
In April, at BP’s annual general meeting, Manifold’s chair appointment received only around 82% shareholder support — well below the near 100% typical for board directors. Proxy adviser Glass Lewis had recommended a vote against him at the time.
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