(Bloomberg) -- WiseTech Global Ltd.’s billionaire founder and chief executive officer, Richard White, stepped down after a series of damaging allegations over his relationships with several women.
White will take a short break before switching to a new consulting role, the Sydney-based company said Thursday. Chief Financial Officer Andrew Cartledge becomes interim CEO immediately and the search for a permanent replacement will start soon, WiseTech said.
“It has been a challenging time for me personally, my family and close friends, and for the company that I have built and truly love,” White said in the statement. “I remain absolutely committed to seeing this incredible organization continue to thrive and grow in the coming years.”
Pressure has grown on WiseTech’s board and White, the company’s largest shareholder, to take action after a flurry of media reports wiped around A$7.7 billion ($5.1 billion) from the software provider’s market value. The stock fell 6% at the close of trading Thursday, before White’s departure was announced.
White will start a full-time, long-term consulting job focused on product and business development, WiseTech said. Chair Richard Dammery said White had put the company and its shareholders first by suggesting the change. White’s new 10-year contract as a consultant comes with a two-year notice period, while his A$1 million annual salary is unchanged. He’ll report to the chair and the board.
Corporate Scandals
The scandal that ultimately claimed White’s job at the top of WiseTech hit the headlines earlier this month when it emerged he had attempted to push wellness entrepreneur Linda Rogan, with whom he is alleged to have had a sexual relationship, into bankruptcy. Rogan claimed White expected her to have sex with him in exchange for an investment in her business. The case was later settled out of court.
Since then, a string of other allegations have emerged that turned a relatively little-known Australian tech company into the country’s latest corporate scandal.
The Australian Financial Review, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age have reported that White had a sexual relationship with a woman who later made a series of damaging claims about the billionaire in late 2020 that included allegations he engaged in inappropriate behavior. White paid the woman millions of dollars to settle the matter, according to the reports. The newspapers said they’re not suggesting the allegations are true, only that they were made.
The publications then reported White also had a lengthy relationship with a WiseTech employee and gave her a luxury waterfront house in Melbourne worth A$7 million. The crisis deepened further when the Australian Financial Review reported that a former WiseTech director had accused White of intimidation and bullying. The ex-director also claimed there had been a corporate governance failure at the company.
While the statement announcing White’s departure didn’t address the multiple allegations, the company said law firms Herbert Smith Freehills and Seyfarth Shaw LLP have been hired to assist a board investigation into the claims.
White founded WiseTech in 1994 with Maree Isaacs, turning it into a key provider of the software that coordinates logistics and shipping across the world. Twenty-two years later the company was valued at A$1 billion when it listed on the Australian Securities Exchange.
The following year it entered the S&P/ASX 200 and today it employs 3,300 people across 37 countries. It claims the majority of the world’s biggest global logistics providers and freight forwarders among its clients, including DHL, China’s Sinotrans, Japan’s Nippon Express and APL Logistics.
With WiseTech’s stumble, Australian is losing its reputation as a tightly-regulated market with strict governance standards. Accusations of operational or ethical failures have also hit Australia’s two dominant supermarkets, one of the major banks, the largest insurer, the biggest listed media company and Sydney’s main casino.
(Updates with details of White’s new job in fifth paragraph.)
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