TONY HAYWARD PAID FOR A SERIES OF GAFFES

From the Baton Rouge Advocate:

American Robert Dudley will become BP PLC's first ever non-British chief executive, the company said Tuesday as it reported a record quarterly loss and set aside $32.2 billion to cover costs of the devastating Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

Ending weeks of speculation, BP confirmed that gaffe-prone Tony Hayward will step down Oct. 1 as the London-based company seeks to reassure both the public and investors that it is learning lessons from the spill.
....

The oil spill, he said, has been a "wake-up call not only for BP, but the oil and gas industry overall, and we will be looking deeply at our review of operational safety and what we have learned from this spill."

We can only hope that some good comes out of the Gulf catastrophe.

Svanberg said the board was "deeply saddened" to lose Hayward, 53, who spent almost 30 years at the company, praising his success in streamlining and boosting profits at the bloated company he inherited as CEO three years ago.

Tony boosted profits for the giant corporation, all right, but one can't help but wonder if the part of the "streamlining" was at the expense of safety.

In a mark of faith in its outgoing leader, the company said it planned to recommend him for a non-executive board position at its Russian joint venture, TNK-BP.

The words above brought a smile to my face and made me suspect that the reporters have a sense of irony.

Hayward, who paid the price for a series of gaffes, including the comment "I'd like my life back," will receive a year's salary of 1.045 million pounds ($1.6 million) as part of his severance package. He will also be entitled to draw an annual pension of 600,000 pounds from a pension pot valued at around 11 million pounds and retains his rights to shares under a long-term performance program which could eventually be worth several million pounds if BP's share price recovers.

Not a bad payoff for gaffes. Any ideas on how I can arrange to get paid for my gaffes?

UPDATE:

But chief executive Tony Hayward - who is to leave the top job in October - accepted that the firm could not move on with him at the helm.

His departure was confirmed as BP reported a record $17bn (£11bn) loss, having set aside $32bn to cover the costs of the spill.

BP's managing director Bob Dudley will replace him in the top job.

"This is a very sad day for me personally," Mr Hayward told reporters.

"Whether it is fair or unfair is not the point. I became the public face [of the disaster] and was demonised and vilified.

He added: "BP cannot move on in the US with me as its leader... Life isn't fair.

"Sometimes you step off the pavement and get hit by a bus."

Poor Tony. Don't it break your heart?

From the BBC.