Mail On Sunday/ ThisisMoney.co.uk
I was written off in my 40s, says outgoing Shell boss Ben van Beurden: Oil industry titan is having the last laugh
-
Ben van Beurden says his stellar career was almost derailed two decades ago
-
He was told that he did not have what it took to get to the top
By FRANCESCA WASHTELL FOR THE MAIL ON SUNDAY
|
He is one of the most powerful business leaders on the planet, with a pay package of £6million in 2021.
But, in a candid admission that will strike a chord with anyone who feels their talents are overlooked at work, Shell chief executive Ben van Beurden says his stellar career was almost derailed two decades ago.
The Dutch oilman says that when he was in his 40s he was told at an assessment centre for leadership training that he did not have what it took to get to the top.
Royal Dutch Shell conspired directly with Hitler, financed the Nazi Party, was anti-Semitic and sold out its own Dutch Jewish employees to the Nazis. Shell had a close relationship with the Nazis during and after the reign of Sir Henri Deterding, an ardent Nazi, and the founder and decades long leader of the Royal Dutch Shell Group. His burial ceremony, which had all the trappings of a state funeral, was held at his private estate in Mecklenburg, Germany. The spectacle (photographs below) included a funeral procession led by a horse drawn funeral hearse with senior Nazis officials and senior Royal Dutch Shell directors in attendance, Nazi salutes at the graveside, swastika banners on display and wreaths and personal tributes from Adolf Hitler and Reichsmarschall, Hermann Goring. Deterding was an honored associate and supporter of Hitler and a personal friend of Goring.
Deterding was the guest of Hitler during a four day summit meeting at Berchtesgaden. Sir Henri and Hitler both had ambitions on Russian oil fields. Only an honored personal guest would be rewarded with a private four day meeting at Hitler’s mountain top retreat.
IN JULY 2007, MR BILL CAMPBELL (ABOVE, A RETIRED GROUP AUDITOR OF SHELL INTERNATIONAL SENT AN EMAIL TO EVERY UK MP AND MEMBER OF THE HOUSE OF LORDS: 
MORE DETAILS:
A head-cut image of Alfred Donovan (now deceased) appears courtesy of The Wall Street Journal.
