BP vs Burlington: Founders, CEOs and History

Company facts

Founders

CEOs and their tenures

Timeline: BP and Burlington side by side

1. 1901BP

   D'Arcy Persian Concession

   William Knox D'Arcy obtains a 60-year oil concession from the Shah of Persia covering about 480,000 square miles, roughly three-quarters of the country, in exchange for £20,000 in cash, £20,000 in shares and 16% of annual profits.

2. 1908BP

   Discovery of Oil at Masjid-i-Suleiman

   After seven years of expensive and largely unsuccessful drilling, field manager George Reynolds strikes oil at Masjid-i-Suleiman in south-west Persia on May 26, 1908. It is the first commercial oil discovery in the Middle East.

3. 1909BP

   Anglo-Persian Oil Company Incorporated

   The Anglo-Persian Oil Company is formally incorporated in April 1909, with William Knox D'Arcy and the Burmah Oil Company as principal backers.

4. 1914BP

   British Government Acquires 51% Stake

   At the urging of Winston Churchill, First Lord of the Admiralty, the British government pays ~$2.9 million (£2.2 million) for a 51% stake in Anglo-Persian and signs a long-term fuel-oil supply contract for the Royal Navy, which is converting its fleet from coa…

5. 1954BP

   Renamed British Petroleum

   Following the 1953 resolution of the Iranian nationalization crisis and the Shah's restoration to power, the company renames itself British Petroleum Company.

6. 1970BP

   North Sea Forties Field Discovery

   BP discovers the Forties field in the UK North Sea, one of the largest oil fields ever found in British waters. Together with Alaska's Prudhoe Bay, it gives BP politically secure production just as Middle Eastern governments take control of their oil.

7. 1972Burlington

   Burlington Coat Factory opens

   Monroe Milstein bought a coat outlet in a former factory building in Burlington, New Jersey, and sold brand-name coats at discount prices, the start of Burlington Coat Factory.

8. 1983Burlington

   First public offering

   Burlington Coat Factory Warehouse Corporation went public for the first time, funding expansion from a regional discounter into a national chain with year-round apparel, shoes, baby and home departments.

9. 1987BP

   UK Government Privatization Complete

   The Thatcher government completes the privatization of its remaining 31.5% stake in BP through a global share offering timed for October 1987 weeks before the global stock market crash known as Black Monday disrupted the sale and left underwriters with unsold…

10. 1989Burlington

    Cohoes Specialty Stores acquired

    Burlington bought the Cohoes Specialty Stores off-price chain from upstate New York, including a 50 percent stake in the Cohoes Commons building; a few stores still traded as Cohoes Fashions decades later.

11. 1998BP

    Merger with Amoco Corporation

    BP merges with Chicago-based Amoco Corporation in a deal valued at approximately $48.2 billion the largest industrial merger in history at the time.

12. 2000BP

    Beyond Petroleum Rebrand

    Under then-CEO Sir John Browne, BP launches the 'Beyond Petroleum' rebranding campaign, introducing the sunflower logo still in use today and publicly positioning the company as an energy company committed to addressing climate change.

13. 2006Burlington

    Bain Capital takes Burlington private

    Bain Capital acquired Burlington Coat Factory for about $2.06 billion, ending 34 years of Milstein family control. Long-time executive Mark Nesci became chief executive.

14. 2008Burlington

    Tom Kingsbury named CEO

    Former Kohl's executive Thomas Kingsbury became president and CEO in December 2008, succeeding Mark Nesci, and began overhauling buying, inventory management and the supply chain.

15. 2010BP

    Deepwater Horizon Disaster

    The Deepwater Horizon drilling rig, operating on the Macondo well in the Gulf of Mexico under contract to BP, suffers a catastrophic blowout on April 20, 2010, killing 11 workers and triggering the largest marine oil spill in US history approximately 4.9 milli…

16. 2013Burlington

    Return to the stock market

    Burlington Stores priced its IPO on October 2, 2013, selling 13.3 million shares at $17 each for about $226 million, and listed under the ticker BURL.

17. 2019Burlington

    Michael O'Sullivan becomes CEO

    Former Ross Stores president and COO Michael O'Sullivan succeeded Tom Kingsbury as CEO around September 16, 2019, and later launched the Burlington 2.0 plan of leaner inventories and smaller stores.

18. 2020BP

    Net-Zero Commitment and Dividend Cut

    Under new CEO Bernard Looney, BP sets a net-zero ambition for 2050 and, in August 2020, pledges to cut oil and gas production by 40% by 2030 and raise low-carbon investment to about $5 billion a year.

19. 2020Burlington

    Online sales end and stores close for the pandemic

    On March 5, 2020, Burlington said it would shut its e-commerce business. Days later pandemic lockdowns closed its stores, and fiscal 2020 revenue fell to $5.76 billion with a $216.5 million net loss.

20. 2023Burlington

    Bed Bath & Beyond leases

    Burlington won 44 Bed Bath & Beyond leases for $12 million at the June 2023 bankruptcy auction, the largest share of the 109 sold, and later reported 62 former Bed Bath & Beyond leases in total.

21. 2024BP

    Auchincloss Confirmed as CEO

    Murray Auchincloss, BP's CFO since 2020 and interim chief since Bernard Looney's September 2023 exit, is confirmed as permanent CEO in January 2024.

22. 2025BP

    Strategy Reset and Bumerangue Discovery

    In February 2025 BP cuts planned transition investment to $1.5-2 billion a year, raises upstream spending to about $10 billion a year and targets $20 billion of divestments and $14-18 billion of net debt by 2027.

23. 2025BP

    CEO Change and Castrol Sale Agreed

    On December 17, 2025 BP says Murray Auchincloss will step down and names Woodside Energy CEO Meg O'Neill as his successor from April 2026, with Carol Howle as interim CEO.

24. 2025Burlington

    Joann leases

    After Joann's second bankruptcy, Burlington agreed in April 2025 to take over 45 Joann store leases, many of which became part of its fiscal 2026 opening program.

25. 2026BP

    O'Neill Takes Over and Simplifies BP

    Meg O'Neill becomes CEO on April 1, 2026. The board removes chair Albert Manifold on May 26 over governance and conduct concerns and names Ian Tyler interim chair, confirming him as permanent chair on September 2.

26. 2026Burlington

    Record fiscal 2025 results

    Burlington reported fiscal 2025 total revenue of $11.57 billion and net income of $610.2 million, and ended the year on January 31, 2026, with 1,212 stores.

27. 2026Burlington

    Tariff refunds put into prices

    In the second quarter of fiscal 2026, sales rose 11 percent to $2.998 billion. Burlington received $55 million in tariff refunds and said it would reinvest them in lower prices; the store count reached 1,287.

28. 2026Burlington

    Headquarters move to Philadelphia announced

    On September 3, 2026, Burlington said it will invest $370 million to move its headquarters from Burlington Township, New Jersey, to Schuylkill Yards in Philadelphia, in phases from late 2028 or early 2029.

Acquisitions

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