London – BP PLC chief executive John Browne resigned Tuesday, hours after a judge allowed a newspaper to publish allegations from a former boyfriend that the executive misused company resources.
Browne, 59, had already moved up his departure by more than a year after a deadly refinery blast in Texas and a giant oil spill in Alaska. He denied any improper conduct relating to BP. But he acknowledged that he had lied to a judge about how he met his former partner, with whom he had a four-year relationship.
The Mail on Sunday, the newspaper that had sought to publish the claims, immediately called for Browne to be prosecuted for perjury.
Browne said he regretted the lie, saying he was in shock at his private life being exposed, and was stepping down voluntarily “to avoid unnecessary embarrassment and distraction to the company.”
“For the past 41 years of my career at BP I have kept my private life separate from my business life,” he said.
