Shareholders and employees of the Total group have learned with grief the death of Christophe de Margerie, Chairman and CEO, along with three other victims. The sudden death of a charismatic leader of great influence and shocked the markets. It is a more serious as the company is without a CEO and Chairman faces a double problem.
The outstanding qualities of the deceased could not hide the risks associated to this usual confusion in France of the two separate conflicting functions in the hands of one man: on the one hand the role of CEO, the real driver of the group in charge of daily operations and management, representing the company vis-à-vis third parties, missions for which the natural qualities of Christophe de Margerie received unanimous praise and secondly, the role of the Chairman, to monitor the proper functioning of the company, organizing an directing the work of the Board, including the control the action of the general direction.
Statutory age limits are supposed to provide a schedule for anticipating the succession process. In practice, the temptation to extend the statutory age limits exists and can not post regret that the extension to 67 years was requested by Total (19 of resolution 2014 adopted at 87%) instead of considering a split of the functions offering bettre visibility. It is hoped that the Board of Directors of Total, top Paris market capitalization had planned at its Governance and Ethics Committee the conditions of rapid succession this type of sadly predictable accident, since one is irreplaceable. . It is hoped that the Board of Directors of Total take the opportunity to improve its governance to appoint a Chairman an independent of the Management Committee.
Christophe de Margerie beautifully set on the path to modernity for Total, notably by investing in solar energy (SunPower). But it remained to be done to modernize Total governance and a larger shareholder pool : it is regrettable that he could not have his last years at the head of the group to implement these necessary reforms.
October 24, 2014
