BP's Tony Hayward: "I'm a Brit - I can take it"

CEO Hayward answers shareholders' questions:

On Friday, in an attempt to calm market fears Tony Hayward, BP's chief executive, along with chairman Carl-Hendric Svanberg and chief financial officer Byron Grote, held their first call with investors and analysts since the spill began.
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Mr Grote said BP had more than $5bn of accessible cash, as well as access to a further $10bn of financing through a mixture of banking lines and other guaranteed lending.

BP chief Tony Hayward sold shares weeks before oil spill:

The chief executive of BP sold £1.4 million of his shares in the fuel giant weeks before the Gulf of Mexico oil spill caused its value to collapse.

Tony Hayward cashed in about a third of his holding in the company one month before a well on the Deepwater Horizon rig burst, causing an environmental disaster.

Mr Hayward, whose pay package is £4 million a year, then paid off the mortgage on his family’s mansion in Kent, which is estimated to be valued at more than £1.2 million.

There is no suggestion that he acted improperly or had prior knowledge that the company was to face the biggest setback in its history.

His decision, however, means he avoided losing more than £423,000 when BP’s share price plunged after the oil spill began six weeks ago.

Since he disposed of 223,288 shares on March 17, the company’s share price has fallen by 30 per cent. About £40 billion has been wiped off its total value. The fall has caused pain not just for BP shareholders, but also for millions of company pension funds and small investors who have money held in tracker funds.

The spill, which has still not been stemmed, has caused a serious environmental crisis and is estimated to cost BP up to £40 billion to clean up.

BP Knew Of Problems Before Oil Rig Exploded:

Bad wiring and a leak in what's supposed to be a "blowout preventer." Sealing problems that may have allowed a methane eruption. Even a dead battery, of all things.