Browne, Sir John

▪ 2001

      With its $27 billion acquisition of Atlantic Richfield Co. in 2000, BP Amoco became the world's second largest producer of oil and natural gas. At the helm of the ever-growing energy giant was chief executive officer Sir John Browne, a shy, private, unmarried man who lived with his mother and was known for his long work hours and unflagging loyalty to the company that had employed him for more than 30 years. Browne's personal life, daring deals, and calls for environmentally sound business practices made him an odd and highly recognizable character within the oil industry. When Browne took charge of British Petroleum (BP) in 1995, it was a company that had no clear direction and had just raised itself from debt. Browne laid out a plan to expand BP and, in the process, protect it from fluctuating oil prices while grabbing a larger share of the market for natural gas, which increased in demand as producers reacted to consumers' wishes for cleaner alternatives to oil.

      Browne first made waves in 1997 when he abandoned the oil industry's customary resistance to more environmentally friendly production procedures. He later promised to see that BP cut its emission of greenhouse gases by 10% by 2010. In 1999 BP Amoco began a plan to power 200 of its retail outlets by using solar panels. Although some environmentalists were skeptical, Browne said that he was responding to the wishes of consumers, who, he believed, would continue demanding cleaner alternatives to fossil fuel. He backed this up in April 1999 by spending $45 million for a controlling interest in Solarex and thereby making BP Amoco the world's largest solar-energy concern. He also created a major commotion in the petroleum industry in August 1998 when he announced BP's $57 billion agreement to merge with Amoco, which effectively eliminated one competitor while sending industry giants Exxon, Mobil, Texaco, and Chevron scrambling to attempt their own mergers in response.

      Edmund John Phillip Browne was born on Feb. 20, 1948, in Hamburg, Ger. At the suggestion of his father, who worked for BP, he took a position with the firm in 1966 as an apprentice while studying at the University of Cambridge, where he earned a degree in physics. He later received a business degree from Stanford University and held various positions at BP in exploration and production before becoming group treasurer and chief executive officer of BP Finance International in 1984. He became CEO of the Standard Oil Co. after it merged with BP in 1987, and he continued his climb up the BP management ladder until he was named CEO in 1995. Browne was knighted in 1998.

Anthony G. Craine

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