The chief executive of Brazilian oil giant Petrobras, Graca Foster, resigned today along with the entire board of directors as the company reels from a massive corruption scandal.
Petrobras, the largest company in the world's seventh- largest economy, said in a statement that "its board of directors will meet Friday to elect a new leadership after the resignation of the CEO and five directors."
The state-controlled firm has been at the center of a political firestorm for nearly a year over allegations that a corrupt network stole USD 4 billion from its coffers over the course of a decade, filtering much of it to politicians -- including members of left-wing President Dilma Rousseff's ruling coalition.
Brazilian media reports touted former central bank chief Henrique Meirelles as a likely successor to Foster.
Reports of Foster's imminent departure had been swirling in the Brazilian press since yesterday.
Petrobras shares closed up more than 14 per cent yesteray on the Sao Paulo stock exchange as investors welcomed her likely exit.
The gains, the largest in 16 years, closed out a week in which Petrobras lost nearly USD 9 billion in stock value and was downgraded by two ratings agencies.
The company's shares rose another eight percent in early today trade before falling back to around 0.6 percent higher later in the session.
Rousseff, who is close to Foster, held a meeting with the chief executive in Brasilia yesterday evening.
The president had publicly voiced support for Foster in recent weeks.
But the chief executive's position grew increasingly untenable as Petrobras repeatedly delayed the release of its third-quarter results.
They were finally published last Wednesday, but without undergoing an external audit or accounting for losses due to corruption.
Foster, 61, grew up in poverty in a Rio de Janeiro favela, or shantytown, selling aluminum cans to buy her school supplies.
A chemical engineer and economist by training, she joined Petrobras as a 20-year-old intern and spent her career at the company, rising steadily through its ranks to become CEO in February 2012.
"Graca Foster was a very passive manager," said analyst Alex Agostini, chief economist at Sao Paulo-based ratings firm Austin Rating.
