From today's Times (UK)
Elliott, the US investor with a stake of over 5 per cent, is agitating for a cull at the oil giant’s head office and the closure of BP Ventures.
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Activist wants BP divisions to shut and hundreds of jobs to go
Elliott, the US investor with a stake of over 5 per cent, is agitating for a cull at the oil giant’s head office and the closure of BP Ventures
BP oil platform in the North Sea.
A BP oil rig in the North Sea. The activist Elliott is kicking up a storm at the company
ANDY BUCHANAN/AFP
Laith Al-Khalaf, Business Reporter
Saturday April 26 2025, 12.01am, The Sunday Times
The activist investor Elliott is lobbying for BP to axe hundreds of jobs from its head office in an attempt to cut costs and simplify the oil giant’s sprawling structure.
The American hedge fund wants BP to shut down several divisions and trim its administrative functions, according to people familiar with Elliott’s thinking.
It is understood that it is pressing the £58 billion company to close BP Ventures, its £1.2 billion venture capital arm, which has backed 75 energy start-ups that the company believes have the promise to become profitable. Over the course of its 18-year lifespan, it has deployed £900 million worth of capital to different ventures.
Elliott is also understood to want BP to axe its forecasting arm, which predicts macroeconomic conditions such as the oil price, and make cuts to its strategy team, which was responsible for plotting out the oil giant’s transition away from fossil fuels — a plan that the company is now reversing.
Last week, it emerged that Elliott has become BP’s second-largest shareholder, with a stake of more than 5 per cent in the company, equating to £2.9 billion. The hedge fund holds its position through derivatives called equity swaps.
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Activist wants BP divisions to shut and hundreds of jobs to go
Elliott, the US investor with a stake of over 5 per cent, is agitating for a cull at the oil giant’s head office and the closure of BP Ventures
BP oil platform in the North Sea.
A BP oil rig in the North Sea. The activist Elliott is kicking up a storm at the company
ANDY BUCHANAN/AFP
Laith Al-Khalaf, Business Reporter
Saturday April 26 2025, 12.01am, The Sunday Times
The activist investor Elliott is lobbying for BP to axe hundreds of jobs from its head office in an attempt to cut costs and simplify the oil giant’s sprawling structure.
The American hedge fund wants BP to shut down several divisions and trim its administrative functions, according to people familiar with Elliott’s thinking.
It is understood that it is pressing the £58 billion company to close BP Ventures, its £1.2 billion venture capital arm, which has backed 75 energy start-ups that the company believes have the promise to become profitable. Over the course of its 18-year lifespan, it has deployed £900 million worth of capital to different ventures.
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Elliott is also understood to want BP to axe its forecasting arm, which predicts macroeconomic conditions such as the oil price, and make cuts to its strategy team, which was responsible for plotting out the oil giant’s transition away from fossil fuels — a plan that the company is now reversing.
Last week, it emerged that Elliott has become BP’s second-largest shareholder, with a stake of more than 5 per cent in the company, equating to £2.9 billion. The hedge fund holds its position through derivatives called equity swaps.
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• Elliott ups stake in BP as it pivots away from renewable energy
Its stake was first unveiled in February, leading BP to announce a raft of changes to reverse years of underperformance. The company announced that it would be rowing back on its pivot towards green energy, and that it would cut between $4 billion (£3 billion) and $5 billion of costs. It has also announced that the company’s chair, Helge Lund — who helped to spearhead the green push alongside former chief executive Bernard Looney — will be departing in 2026. At BP’s annual general meeting this month, a quarter of shareholders voted against Lund’s re-election as chair.
People familiar with Elliott’s thinking said the hedge fund believes there is still a lot more fat to cut, and that it wants BP to target $20 billion worth of free cashflow, compared to its $14 billion target. Free cashflow represents the money left over after a company has covered its working costs.
They pointed out that BP’s general and administrative expenses are about a third higher than its better-performing rival Shell.
BP’s use of management consultants has also drawn criticism. McKinsey helped with advice on BP’s green push, and is a former employer of both Lund and Giulia Chierchia, the company’s head of sustainability.
Elliott’s quest for personnel changes is not finished; those familiar with its thinking also said that the BP board had not been held accountable for underperformance, and required a further shake-up.
BP and Elliott declined to comment.