BP bosses to hand 20% of their salaries to mental health charities 

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BP bosses to hand 20% of their salaries to mental health charities for the rest of this year

By Francesca Washtell For The Daily Mail

Published: | Updated:

BP boss Bernard Looney and chairman Helge Lund will donate 20 per cent of their salaries for the rest of this year to mental health charities.

Looney said the pair wanted ‘to do our part’ during the coronavirus pandemic, which he described as a ‘mental health crisis as well’.

In a blog post on social networking site LinkedIn, he said: ‘Why mental health? It is something that affects us all. Everyone is dealing with something in life.

BP boss Bernard Looney (pictured) and chairman Helge Lund will donate 20 per cent of their salaries for the rest of this year to mental health charities

‘And with the virus – it is amplified. Not everyone will be infected – but everyone is affected. Stress, fear, anxiety, isolation. This is a mental health crisis as well.’

Looney did not specify which charities they would support, though BP recently made a corporate donation to Mind.

The 49-year-old Irish businessman, who took over at BP in mid-February, is on a salary of £1.3million.

He has not said if the donations will be from April to December or May to December.

Between May and December Looney would be giving away £170,000 while Lund, who receives fees of £785,000 a year, would hand out £105,000.

The mental health donation comes after BP in mid-March offered free fuel to emergency services vehicles during the outbreak, as well as a free cup of coffee at its forecourts.

The share price has plunged by a third since late February and it is making drastic cost-cuts, but no employees will lose their jobs for three months and it is not wielding the axe on its dividend.

Soon after Looney took over he announced sweeping climate goals and a radical restructuring, while he has also established himself as social-media friendly, posting to photo-sharing site Instagram as well as LinkedIn.

  • Anglo American bosses have agreed to donate 30 per cent of their fees or salaries for three months to their choice of Covid-19-related charities or funds.

In South Africa the global mining giant, which owns South Africa-based mining behemoth De Beers, is handing £2.4million to two groups.

 

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