Sir Robert Horton (18 August 1939 – 30 December 2011) was a British businessman. He was a director of the European Advisory Council and of

Emerson Electric Company Emerson Electric Co. is an American multinational corporation headquartered in Ferguson, Missouri. The ''Fortune'' 500 company manufactures products and provides engineering services for industrial, commercial, and consumer markets.

.''

Who's Who ''Who's Who'' (or ''Who is Who'') is the title of a number of reference publications, generally containing concise biography, biographical information on the prominent people of a country. The title has been adopted as an expression meaning a gr ...

2008'' p.1123. He spent 30 years working for BP, formerly British Petroleum. He became Chief Executive and Chairman of the Board of BP in March 1990, but was forced out in 1992.

Early life and education

Sir Robert was the son of William Harold Horton and Dorothy Joan Horton née Baynes. He was educated at

King's School, Canterbury The King's School is a public school (English independent day and boarding school for 13 to 18 year old pupils) in Canterbury, Kent, England. It is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference and the Eton Group. It is Britain's ...

, University College, Dundee, then part of the

University of St Andrews (Aien aristeuein) , motto_lang = grc , mottoeng = Ever to ExcelorEver to be the Best , established = , type = Public research university Ancient university , endowment ...

, but now the

University of Dundee The University of Dundee; . Abbreviated as ''Dund.'' for post-nominals. is a public university, public research university based in Dundee, Scotland. It was founded as a University college#United Kingdom, university college in 1881 with a donation ...

, and graduated the

MIT Sloan School of Management The MIT Sloan School of Management (MIT Sloan or Sloan) is the business school of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT Sloan offers bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degree programs, ...

as a

Sloan Fellows The Sloan Fellows program is the world's first mid-career and senior career master's degree in general management and leadership. It was initially supported by a grant from Alfred P. Sloan, the late CEO of General Motors, to his alma mater, MIT ...

in 1971. He was chairman of the

Tate Gallery Tate is an institution that houses, in a network of four art galleries, the United Kingdom's national collection of British art, and international modern and contemporary art. It is not a government institution, but its main sponsor is the U ...

Foundation 1988-92 and Business in the Arts 1988-96. He was a Fellow of The Royal Society of Arts. He was chancellor of the

University of Kent , motto_lang = , mottoeng = Literal translation: 'Whom to serve is to reign'(Book of Common Prayer translation: 'whose service is perfect freedom')Graham Martin, ''From Vision to Reality: the Making of the University of Kent at Canterbury'' ...

from 1990 to 1995, and a portrait of him hangs in the Senate Building there. He was also a Governor of King's School, Canterbury 1984-2005.

Career

Sir Robert joined BP in 1957, and from 1960 on held a series of positions in oil supply, marketing, finance, and planning. In 1980 he became chief executive officer of BP Chemicals International and held that position until December 1983 when he was elected to the BP board as a managing director, with responsibility for finance, planning, and the Western Hemisphere. On his election as chairman and chief executive officer of Standard Oil in April 1986, Horton resigned from BP. But following the merger of BP and Standard Oil in July 1987, he was appointed chief executive officer of BP America, Inc. As chairman of British Petroleum in 1990, Sir Robert Horton aimed to reorganise the company in such a way as to attract and advance outstanding personnel. He was forced out in 1992 after "management turmoil and disagreements with the company's board." He was chairman of

Railtrack Railtrack was a group of companies that owned the track, signalling, tunnels, bridges, level crossings and all but a handful of the stations of the British railway system from 1994 until 2002. It was created as part of the privatisation of ...

from 1993 to 1999 and led the organisation through the early years of its existence, including an industrial dispute from June to September 1994. He was non-executive chairman of

Betfair Betfair is a British Gambling, gambling company which operates the world's largest online betting exchange. Its product offering also includes sports betting, online casino, online poker, and online bingo. Founded in 2000, the business is split ...

from 2004 to 2006.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Horton, Robert 1939 births 2011 deaths British businesspeople in the oil industry Businesspeople awarded knighthoods Chancellors of the University of Kent Chairmen of BP Knights Bachelor MIT Sloan School of Management alumni MIT Sloan Fellows Alumni of the University of St Andrews Alumni of the University of Dundee British public transport executives British chairpersons of corporations