BP’S £142M BOSS QUITS

After three FTSE 100 big beasts resign this week . . .

BP’S outgoing boss is in line for staggering windfall worth up to £46m – on top of nearly £100m he has already been paid.

Bob Dudley, 64, announced he will leave the oil giant after leading it through the most turbulent decade in its history, including the fall-out from the firm’s devastating oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

He will be succeeded in February by Bernard Looney, 49, who runs BP’s exploration arm, Upstream, and has been with the firm for 28 years.

But critics yesterday blasted the ‘nonsensical’ pay deal being handed to Dudley ( pictured), pointing to relatively low returns enjoyed by shareholders during his tenure.

The chief executive – who is considered a ‘good leaver’ – could still pocket shares worth up to £33.3m at current prices after he leaves if BP achieves its targets. He can also earn a maximum £13.1m for this year.

After stepping down as chief executive he will also continue to receive full salary and benefits until his formal departure on March 31, meaning he will receive about £390,000 for his final three months at BP.

This will be on top of £96.1m in pay he has already received since taking the helm in 2010 – potentially taking his total earnings from the company to £142m.

BP chairman Helge Lund yesterday heaped praise on Dudley for leading it through ‘the most challenging time’ in its history, saying the company ‘owes him a debt of gratitude’.

But Luke Hildyard, director of the High Pay Centre, said the lavish pay deal stood in sharp contrast to ‘thousands of job cuts, inadequate investment in renewable energy and meagre returns for shareholders’ seen during Dudley’s time in charge.

Hildyard said. ‘Being chief executive of BP is undoubtedly a difficult job but the idea it needs to lavish tens of millions on a single individual to ensure an organisation that has operated successfully for decades can continue to pump oil is absolutely nonsensical.

‘Pay practices such as this highlight the continued laxity of corporate governance in the UK.’

Dudley, who is married with two children, is an oil industry veteran with 40 years’ experience.

The American was working at Amoco when it was bought by BP in 1998, but went on to run the group’s renewables business and its Russian operations from 2002 to 2008.

While running joint venture TNKBP in Russia, Dudley became embroiled in a power struggle with the company’s oligarch backers before he was eventually denied a visa and forced to leave the country. BP later sold its 50pc stake in the business to Russia’s state-controlled Rosneft in 2013.

Dudley took over from gaffeprone Tony Hayward in 2010 as the firm was still reeling from the Deepwater Horizon disaster, which resulted from an explosion at BP’s Macondo well in the Gulf of Mexico that killed 11 workers and sent 4m barrels of oil pouring into the sea, devastating wildlife.

Dudley was tasked with cleaning up the spill – an effort that would cost £50bn – as well as reaching a settlement with the US government and rebuilding BP’s damaged reputation.

During his time in charge, BP has also contended with rock-bottom oil prices and growing activism from investors who want the company to move away from polluting fossil fuels.

Dudley responded by slashing costs, selling billions of pounds of assets and investing in green energy companies such as solar energy firm Lightsource.

This week, however, BP suffered a PR disaster when the Royal Shakespeare Company axed a sponsorship deal it had with the company because of its production of fossil fuels.

Dudley is the fourth FTSE 100 boss to leave this week, following the exits of Tesco’s Dave Lewis, Alison Cooper of Imperial Brands, and Standard Life Aberdeen’s Martin Gilbert.