BRIAN WILLIAMS, anchor:
We turn our coverage now to the oil disaster in the
Gulf of Mexico
, and word that the man who was the public face of
BP
is on his way out.
Tony Hayward
will reportedly exit the job of
BP
CEO in October,with a hefty pension and another job offer. CNBC's
Maria Bartiromo
covering this story in
London
for us tonight.
Maria
, good evening.
MARIA BARTIROMO reporting:
Good evening,
Brian
. Thanks very much. Sources at
BP
are telling us not to expect an official announcement tonight on
Hayward
's successor, but it is widely expected that
Robert Dudley
will get the job. He is his American colleague. He's been running the gulf response in the gulf since June, and this would make him the
first American
to lead this British iconic firm. Cameras surrounded the silver
Lexus
as embattled CEO
Tony Hayward
left
BP
's headquarters tonight in
London
. He will reportedly step down as CEO in October and take a job with
BP
's joint venture in
Russia
.
Mr. JEFFREY SONNENFELD (Yale School of Management):
Tony Hayward
at this point has become the wayward CEO, and not a CEO who's got -- has the legitimacy to lead.
BARTIROMO:
Hayward
has been criticized for his cool, detached style and his public gaffes.
Mr. TONY HAYWARD:
There's no one who wants this thing over more than I do. You know, I'd like my life back.
BARTIROMO:
At a hearing in
Washington
, he was accused of evading questions.
Representative ELIOT ENGEL:
I think you're insulting our intelligence.
BARTIROMO:
And as the oil continued to soil gulf waters,
Hayward
spent a weekend far from it at a yacht race in
England
, stirring up yet more controversy.
Mr. BOB DUDLEY:
We've been engineering as we go.
BARTIROMO:
BP
's managing director,
Bob Dudley
, a 54-year-old
Mississippi
native, became
BP
's public face in the gulf.
Mr. DUDLEY:
I'm frustrated and saddened.
WILLIAMS:
Is there anything else you need to warn us about?
BARTIROMO:
In an interview with
Brian Williams
just last month,
BP
's new point man tried to change the tone.
Mr. DUDLEY:
This is terrible, and the company's going to put its full might behind providing every resource it can to stop it, clean it up and restore the gulf.
BARTIROMO:
Restoring the gulf and building political support to continue drilling there is critical to
BP
's future. Some analysts say
Dudley
, who spent 20 years at
Amoco
before it was bought by
BP
, is the right man for the job.
Mr. FADEL GHEIT (Oppenheimer Co. Oil and Gas Research):
He's very affable person, and is a level-headed person, and he is tough when toughness needed.
And I
think he will need all the toughness in the world to get
BP
back in shape.
BARTIROMO:
And tomorrow we will get a lot more information when
BP
reports its first half earnings, including, we will find out, the exit package for Mr.
Hayward
, which is being talked about tonight at some $18 million, including benefits.
Brian
, back to you.
WILLIAMS:
All right,
Maria
.
Maria Bartiromo
in
London tonight
. Thanks.
“ ”