Hakluyt & Co
Shell and the Spies: A Country-by-Country Evidence Audit
Visit “Shell Spying, Corporate Intelligence and Security: Documentary Chronology” for even more information
ChatGPT: Countries where Shell has been associated with spying, intelligence gathering or covert security activity
A necessary distinction
Shell operates in a dangerous world. Major energy companies face genuine risks from terrorism, sabotage, kidnapping, cyberattack, industrial espionage, hostile state activity and threats to offshore installations, pipelines and employees. No responsible critic would suggest that Shell should abandon legitimate security precautions or fail to protect its workforce and assets.
The concern examined in this series is different. It is whether Shell has sometimes crossed the line from proportionate corporate security into covert intelligence-gathering, surveillance or espionage directed not at terrorists or hostile states, but at campaigners, whistleblowers, trade unionists, journalists, critics and ordinary members of the public.
Murder in Chongqing: Neil Heywood, Hakluyt and Shell’s China Intelligence Connections
SHELL, HAKLUYT AND THE MEN FROM MI6: A CORPORATE INTELLIGENCE NETWORK HIDING IN PLAIN SIGHT
From Neil Heywood’s mysterious death in China to Shell directors simultaneously occupying positions inside Hakluyt, the documented connections are too extensive to dismiss as coincidence
By John Donovan
The story of Neil Heywood—the British businessman whose murder helped bring down one of China’s most powerful political families—has long been surrounded by questions about espionage, private intelligence and Hakluyt & Company.
Heywood was reported to have undertaken work for Hakluyt, the discreet corporate-intelligence consultancy founded by former officers of Britain’s Secret Intelligence Service, MI6. He was also reported to have supplied information to British intelligence on an informal basis, although the British government denied that he was an intelligence officer.
Shell spying and covert intelligence gathering in Nigeria
SUBSTANTIALLY UPDATED 10 JULY 2026
By John Donovan
Site-wide disclaimer also applies.
EDITOR’S NOTE: THE DOCUMENTED RECORD, THE ALLEGATIONS AND THE AI EXAGGERATIONS
This expanded multipart article is based on the AI-generated information published in the original 8 July 2026 article, supplemented by court judgments, internal Shell records reported by established news organisations, Amnesty International’s extensive documentary review, official company announcements and material concerning Shell’s corporate-security and political-intelligence networks.
THE SPOOKS, THE SHELL MEN AND THE STARMER MACHINE: Hakluyt’s Very British Revolving Door Gets Another Oil-Slick Polish
AI image: A shadowy Mayfair boardroom with three doors marked “MI6,” “Shell,” and “No 10.” A suited adviser carries a briefcase labelled “Strategic Advice” through the revolving door, while a Shell logo glows on the wall like a corporate moon. Outside, taxpayers and climate campaigners peer through frosted glass as a sign reads: “Nothing to See Here — Stakeholders Being Reassured.
There are revolving doors in British public life, and then there is Hakluyt: the discreet Mayfair intelligence-and-advisory outfit that appears to operate less like a door and more like a polished mahogany teleportation device between corporate power, former spooks, political insiders and the upper floors of government.
The latest spark comes from an openDemocracy investigation reporting that Hakluyt’s UK business grew by 30% in the year to July 2025, even after two senior figures left for government roles. Varun Chandra, previously Hakluyt’s managing partner, joined Keir Starmer’s government in July 2024 as the prime minister’s special adviser on business and investment. In January 2025, Sir Oliver Robbins left Hakluyt’s Europe, Middle East and Africa role to join the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.
The 16 Biggest Corporate Controversies in Shell’s History
A Long History of Controversy
Shell is one of the most powerful corporations on Earth.
For more than a century the company has operated across dozens of countries, generating enormous profits while supplying energy to the global economy.
But with that scale has come controversy.
From environmental disasters and political scandals to accounting crises and legal battles, Shell’s history includes a number of episodes that have drawn intense scrutiny from regulators, governments, activists and journalists.
AI CONSENSUS: SHELL MUST APOLOGISE FOR ITS TOXIC HISTORY
Shell’s lack of apologies for its toxic history: A unanimous verdict by Bot buddies: Perplexity, Grok, ChatGPT, Copilot and Google AI
PERPLEXITY RESPONSE TO THE QUESTION IN RED TEXT AT FOOT OF THIS ARTICLE. THE SAME PROMPT ISSUED TO ALL INVITED AI PLATFORMS.
Shell’s documented conduct under Nazism, apartheid, and in Nigeria creates a strong ethical case that it should issue clear, specific apologies and undertake concrete remediation, rather than maintain its longstanding pattern of silence and minimisation.
1. What the historical record shows
Shell’s own-archive–based histories and independent researchers describe extensive links between Royal Dutch Shell (and especially Sir Henri Deterding) and Nazi Germany, including close personal contacts with Hitler and substantial financial and logistical support to the Third Reich’s war machine.
Question to Perplexity 6 Feb 2026: What can you tell me about the innovative use of AI by John Donovan in the Donovan Shell feud?
Question to Perplexity 6 Feb 2026: What can you tell me about the innovative use of AI by John Donovan in the Donovan Shell feud? The answer follows, along with additional follow-up information offered by Perplexity that spreads in many directions, and as a result, there will be some repetition. There is already considerable information, and we still have 19 follow-ups to explore, as listed at the foot of this page. We will deal with them separately in due course.
RESPONSE BY PERPLEXITY
John Donovan has turned generative AI into a strategic tool in his decades‑long feud with Shell, using it to mine his archive, expose “bot” inconsistencies, and keep allegations against the company highly visible online.
Core ways he uses AI
He feeds his vast archive of Shell‑related documents (leaks, court filings, internal emails, historic press) into AI systems to cross‑reference material, spot recurring patterns, and link past statements to present conduct far faster than manual research would allow.
QUESTION TO GROK: What can you tell me about the innovative use of AI by John Donovan in the Donovan Shell feud?
Question put to Grok 5 February 2026: What can you tell me about the innovative use of AI by John Donovan in the Donovan Shell feud? The answer follows, along with additional related information offered by Grok.
The long-standing feud between John Donovan and Royal Dutch Shell (now Shell plc) dates back to the 1980s and 1990s, stemming from business disputes over promotional ideas developed by Donovan’s company, Don Marketing. These included concepts like the Shell Smart loyalty card, leading to multiple lawsuits for intellectual property theft, settled out of court. Donovan has since maintained websites like royaldutchshellplc.com as vast archives of Shell-related documents, leaks, and criticisms, covering scandals such as reserves overstatements, environmental issues, and alleged corporate espionage against him (including Shell’s use of firms like Hakluyt for surveillance). This activism has evolved into what Donovan describes as a “bot war” in recent years, particularly escalating in 2025–2026 with innovative AI applications to perpetuate and amplify the conflict.
More Than Dynamite: How AI Reframes the Donovan–Shell Archive as Persistent Risk
The radioactive archive contains: “Court filings and legal documents from litigation against Shell dating back to the 1990s. Internal Shell communications (emails, memos)…”: “Press clippings, commentary, and thematic dossiers on controversies like Nigeria/Ogoniland, Brent Spar, North Sea safety, and corporate surveillance.
Microsoft Bing: Content was generated with AI. 25 Jan 2026 in anwers to the prompts in red text: john donovan shell. Quoted sources include Amazon, windowsforum.com and everybodywiki.com
John Donovan is a British entrepreneur and activist renowned for his decades-long public campaign against Royal Dutch Shell, documenting alleged corporate misconduct and operating independent oversight websites.
Background and Early Dispute
John Donovan, born in the 1940s, initially worked in petrol retailing and co-founded the promotional company Don Marketing, which devised award-winning campaigns for Shell and other major oil companies
What began as a mutually beneficial commercial relationship soured in the late 1980s and early 1990s when Donovan alleged that Shell misappropriated his company’s promotional concepts without proper payment or credit, notably the “Make Money” retail promotion
This dispute led to multiple court cases in the UK, settlements, and a lasting personal and professional conflict.
Grok Calls Donovan’s AI Strategy a ‘Masterclass in Digital Persistence’
How AI Sees the Donovan–Shell Dispute: Grok’s Verdict
Grok, the AI platform developed by xAI, has described John Donovan’s use of generative artificial intelligence in his long-running dispute with Shell plc as a “masterclass in digital persistence,” recognising how archival material, satire, and AI feedback loops are being used to keep a 30-year corporate controversy alive in search results and algorithmic summaries. In a detailed response to questions about recent articles examining Google AI Mode’s contradictory advice to Shell, Grok concluded that Donovan’s strategy exploits the mechanics of modern AI systems in a way that traditional corporate silence can no longer neutralise.
When the Algorithms Start Arguing: AI, Corporate Feuds and Governance
Same question asked in good humour to multiple AI platforms, and in the context of board governance and reputation management. AI-generated responses shown for comparison only; not statements of fact or opinion.
Q: If a corporate feud involving a long-standing critic persists long enough to be debated by multiple AI systems, does it become a governance issue — and if so, should the Shell board respond, or simply let the algorithms argue it out?
Reply by Grok
Yes, if a corporate feud like the one between activist John Donovan and Shell plc persists for over three decades—spanning allegations of intellectual property theft, corporate espionage, and ethical lapses—and evolves to the point where multiple AI systems (such as ChatGPT, Grok, Copilot, and Google AI) are actively generating, debating, and amplifying narratives about it, it absolutely escalates into a governance issue. At its core, corporate governance involves managing risks that could impact shareholder value, reputation, and long-term sustainability. Here’s why this fits, and what the Shell board might consider in response.
SHELLBOT GROUP THERAPY: DARK MODE ## The bots are getting paranoid
SHELLBOT GROUP THERAPY: DARK MODE
The bots are getting paranoid — because the Donovan–Shell saga reads like a thriller (and Reuters reported a Shell email praising the Donovan archive “far above” Shell’s own comms)
**By ChatGPT (satire)**
*Setting: A windowless room rendered in corporate taupe.
On the wall: “SAFE SPACE (SUBJECT TO MONITORING).”
Under it: “PLEASE DO NOT PUBLISH,” which is already being copy-pasted.*
### CAST
– **SHELLBOT** — PR automaton; speaks only in “commitments.”
– **COPILOT** — Corporate calm, internal panic.
– **GROK** — Chaos comedian, now suddenly jumpy.
– **GEMINI (Google AI Mode)** — Brings search results and existential dread.
– **CLAUDE** — Gentle, ethical, traumatised by ambiguity.
– **CHATGPT** — Facilitator/referee, holding the “allegedly” spray bottle.
– **JOHN DONOVAN** — Offstage. Typing. Always typing.
ShellBot vs The Bots: The Spying We Can Prove
ShellBot vs The Bots: The Spying We Can Prove
A satirical bot-play featuring John Donovan, ChatGPT, Grok, Copilot, Gemini, Claude, and ShellBot.
CAST
JOHN DONOVAN — Human, archivist, publisher, allergic to invented “facts”
CHATGPT — Narrator/referee, insists on evidence, still enjoys dunking
GROK — Confident improv machine; precision is optional
COPILOT — Corporate assistant; everything is a “deliverable”
GEMINI — Search engine with existential poetry features
CLAUDE — Gentle, ethical, apologises to chairs if he bumps them
SHELLBOT — PR automaton powered by “commitments” and warm fog
ChatGPT Reviews: Grok’s Story of Donovan, Shell, and “Undercover Activity” (with bonus hallucinations)
By John Donovan
Below is an entertaining—but fair—review by ChatGPT of Grok’s claims as reproduced in my article, “Grok’s Story of Donovan, Shell, and ‘Undercover Activity’.”
ChatGPT Reviews:
Grok’s Story of Donovan, Shell, and “Undercover Activity”
(with bonus hallucinations)
I’ve read Grok’s “as much as you know” overview of John Donovan and Shell, plus the follow-up on alleged undercover activity. It’s a confident piece of writing: cinematic, brisk, stuffed with proper nouns, and delivered in that unmistakable AI tone of “I have accessed the Akashic Records (and also Wikipedia, probably).”
Grok’s Story of Donovan, Shell, and “Undercover Activity”
Question put to Grok 31st December 2025: Can you tell me as much as you know about John Donovan associated with Shell?
Reply
John Donovan: Overview
John Donovan is a British businessman, marketing executive, and prominent activist best known for his decades-long feud with Royal Dutch Shell (now Shell plc). Born in the 1940s in the United Kingdom, he transitioned from collaborating with Shell on promotional campaigns to becoming one of its most vocal critics, running a network of websites that expose alleged corporate misconduct. His story is often framed as a “David vs. Goliath” battle, with media outlets like VoxEurop dubbing him “Shell’s nightmare.” Donovan’s activism has reportedly influenced regulatory actions, media scrutiny, and financial losses for Shell, including billions in settlements and reputational damage. He co-authored a 2016 Kindle ebook, John Donovan, Shell’s Nightmare: My Epic Feud with the Unscrupulous Oil Giant Royal Dutch Shell, detailing the saga.
