Robert Horton (businessman)

Sir Robert was the son of William Harold Horton and Dorothy Joan Horton (née Baynes). He was educated at King's School, Canterbury, University College, Dundee (then part of the University of St Andrews, but now the University of Dundee), and graduated from the MIT Sloan School of Management as a Sloan Fellow in 1971.^{[citation needed]}

He was chairman of the Tate Gallery 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 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).^[1][3]

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.^[4] 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.^[5] He was forced out in 1992 after "management turmoil and disagreements with the company's board."^[2]

He was chairman of Railtrack from 1993 to 1999 and led the organisation through the early years of its existence, including an industrial dispute from June to September 1994.^[6] He was non-executive chairman of Betfair from 2004 to 2006.^[7]