Bernard Looney, the former CEO of oil and gas company, BP, has an impressive fortune. His current net worth and salary explored.
Bernard Looney is an Irish businessman and former chief executive officer of BP, one of the world’s biggest oil and gas companies.
During Looney’s tenure as CEO of BP, he promised to end BP’s relationship with Rosneft, the Russian state-owned energy giant, amid Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
Looney was a member of Rosneft’s board until February 2022.
In September 2023, Looney resigned abruptly from his position for failing to fully disclose details of his past personal relationships with colleagues.
Following this, questions around his fortune and salary were raised. Here’s everything we know about his finances.
What is Bernard Looney’s net worth?
Looney’s time at BP was lucrative. He accumulated an estimated net worth between £8 million and £10 million.
Reuters also reports that Looney was paid £10.03 million in 2022, more than double the 4.46 million pounds he received the previous year. This means, Looney’s base salary throughout that year was 1.4 million pounds and it was topped up by retirement benefits and performance-related elements including an annual bonus of £2.4 million and a £6 million shares.
When Looney succeeded Bob Dudley as the group’s CEO in February 2020, sold BP shares worth £7.8 million in February and April 2019.
Why did Bernard Looney resign?
Looney resigned as CEO of BP after less than four years in the role. In a statement, BP announced his departure following an investigation into his conduct and personal relationships with colleagues.
It said that the board was tipped off in May 2022 about claims he’d had personal relationships with coworkers. In a review Looney “disclosed a small number of historical relationships with colleagues prior to becoming CEO.” The company said Looney breached its code of conduct, but that it received “further allegations of a similar nature” more recently. BP said it’s now investigating those claims. Looney “did not provide details of all relationships and accepts he was obligated to make more complete disclosure,” per the statement.
The Financial Times reported some in the oil industry had joked that dealing with the fallout of Looney’s departure “could be BP’s biggest clean-up operation since the Gulf of Mexico oil spill” in 2010.
It’s not the first sudden resignation by a BP CEO. In May 2007 John Browne quit after a UK court lifted an injunction preventing a newspaper group from publishing details about his private life, Reuters reported.
Separately, another British executive, Steve Easterbrook, was ousted as global CEO of McDonald’s in 2019 following a relationship with a colleague that breached the company’s code of conduct.
McDonald’s then accused him in a 2020 lawsuit of covering up relationships with three other coworkers and sending nude photographs on his work email account.
What is known about Bernard Looney’s family?
Looney was born in 1970, in County Kerry, and was raised on a small dairy farm in Ashgrove, near Kenmare, instilling in him the values of hard work and resilience from an early age.
Leeney keeps much of his personal life out of the public eye, including details about his siblings. Bernard Looney hails from a modest family background. A report suggests his parents’ names are Tom Looney (father) and Mary Looney (mother). He reportedly has a sister but her name is not mentioned.
He was the first in his family to attend a university. Looney earned a degree in electrical engineering from University College Dublin and a master’s in management from Stanford Graduate School of Business. Looney is a fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, and a fellow of the Energy Institute.
Looney’s family background played a significant role in shaping his character. His appreciation for nature and the environment influenced his commitment to BP’s transition towards cleaner energy solutions.
Throughout his career at BP, Looney often emphasized the importance of reflecting the values he imbibed from his family and upbringing.
This background has contributed to his professional success in addressing pressing global challenges such as climate change.
British life coach and an author Jacqueline Hurst was the former wife of businessman, Bernard Looney. Looney and Hurst got married in October 2017. At the time of their nuptial, he was 47 years old while Hurst was 40 years.
The couple lived together in Mayfair, central London, England.
BP former CEO Bernard Looney and Jacqueline Hurst’s marriage didn’t last as after just one year they ended everything. They separated in 2018 and finalised their divorce in 2019.