The Times: The powers in the boardroom
“Van den Bergh was appointed group managing director of Royal Dutch/Shell in 1992. He left suddenly in 2000, saying he had grown tired of the endless travelling. His views on this year’s furore over Shell’s oil reserves are not known. It is not a subject that goes down well with Shell alumni.
Oilman who made slick transition to bank boss
By Jon Ashworth
October 18, 2004
The world-travelled chairman of Lloyds TSB who made the switch from energy to high finance
THERE are some corners of the world where cynicism has yet to take root. Or perhaps it is simply that the locals do as they are told. Either could explain the spectacle that greeted Maarten van den Bergh during a visit to South Africa in the late 1990s.
Nelson Mandela had persuaded Shell to build a new school near his birthplace in the Eastern Cape. As one of Shell’s most senior executives, Van den Bergh had been flown in for the inauguration.