CEO Stars in BP's Comedy of Errors

In the six weeks since the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded, BP CEO Tony Hayward has been front and center. But he’s hardly been providing the kind of leadership BP was looking for. Instead, the visibility has simply magnified his string of gaffes. Like when he downplayed the spill’s environmental impact because, he said, the Gulf of Mexico “is a very big ocean.” “The environmental impact of this disaster is likely to have been very, very modest,” he added. Then, he told the Financial Times, “What is undoubtedly true is that we did not have the tools you would want in your tool kit.” He has also had to apologize to the families of the explosion’s 11 victims for saying, “You know, I’d like my life back.” And yet, BP maintains that Hayward has the full support of the board. At least now, in a new television ad campaign he promise: “We will get it done. We will make this right.” Meanwhile, BP is hoping that the cap it installed last night will stop around 90 percent of the oil gushing into the ocean, according to COO Doug Suttles.