WiseTech Global’s founder and newly appointed board chair Richard White “made inaccurate and incomplete disclosures concerning the nature and duration of his relationship” involving two employees, but has pledged to do better, an ongoing report into his behaviour as the former CEO has found.
Releasing a 9-page update to the ASX, WiseTech said the board flagged to White “that a number of the matters are serious in nature, and that such conduct is not acceptable and must not be repeated”.
The board will take no action against its chairman.
The statement added that: “White accepts the findings of the board review and has committed to, and is supportive of, a new and more stringent code of conduct in respect of such matters”.
White, who owns more than a third of WiseTech shares, returned to the business as executive chairman last month.
In late February, a boardroom coup saw former chair Richard Dammery and three other non-executive directors resign.
A board sub-committee of newly installed independent director and Shearwater Capital founder Mike Gregg, his Shearwater colleague Charles Gibbon, a veteran board member, and WiseTech cofounder Maree Isaacs has been looking into governance issues since last October, after White stepped down as CEO last October amid a slew of allegations about his behaviour with women.
White was initially cleared of wrongdoing last year following an external legal review, which found “no evidence” of policy breaches.
The review has examined five key allegations against the billionaire, including a failure disclose to the board several “close personal relationships” at work, misuse of company funds and claims of bullying, harassment and intimidation by a former director.
But now additional investigation by the sub-committee, with support from the lawyers originally engaged over the issue, Herbert Smith Freehills and Seyfarth Shaw, has found some deficiencies in White’s disclosures of relationships with employees and a chastened billionaire now understands that “with the benefit of hindsight he would have more fulsomely disclosed them to the Board and handled the contracting process differently”.
Three matters that remain the subject of further investigation, including two more confidential complaints against White, which emerged earlier this year.
The company did not release the interim report, instead offering a summary of its findings so far. It added that “substantial aspects of the third matter fall outside the scope of the Board Review”, and painted a picture of a contrite founder.
“Mr White understands the importance of his role in creating and influencing the culture of the business, and the seriousness of his actionss,” the board said.
The board sub-committee also praised their chairman, saying it was “conscious of the exceptional knowledge and value that Mr White as co-founder brings to strategy, product, customers and shareholders”.
The review said representations White made to the board and the board review were “not fully transparent and candid; and misleading about personal matters concerning the ending of the relationship” with an employee described as Person A.
It did not find any issues with remuneration involving Person A and “allegations of unlawful discrimination and gender-pay inequality in the confidential complaint are not substantiated”, along with claims that they were forced to work unreasonable or excessive hours.
The review also found that White “made incomplete disclosures concerning the nature and duration of his relationship with Person B” between October 2024 and February 2025, and that he “failed to disclose his knowledge of a dispute raised with him by Person B about matters including the supplier arrangement in a timely manner” and there were “undisclosed conflicts of interest”.
Seyfarth Shaw looked at the commercial arrangements with the supplier associated with Person B and concluded that Wisetech “did not have appropriate visibility of the dealings or control over work-product or intellectual property produced” and the arrangements “did not comply with expected standards for good contract management and did not adequately protect WTC’s interests” but concluded that White did not benefit personally.
The investigation also dismissed concerns about undisclosed related-party transactions and any deals were done “on arm’s-length commercial terms”.
The WiseTech board said it will provide a further update, including any findings, once the investigation has been completed.
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