WiseTech founder Richard White has stepped down as CEO of WiseTech Global, resigned from its board and also as a director of industry lobby group the TechCouncil of Australia.
The billionaire fell on his sword late on Thursday afternoon following a fortnight of media reports about his private life, including legal action, settled on Monday, against a woman who alleged she’d been his lover, over $92,000 worth of furniture.
While the boards of both the ASX-listed logistics software company (ASX: WTC) he founded 30 years ago, and the Tech Council had taken watch and wait positions, White’s position became increasingly untenable amid a range of allegations of inappropriate behaviour towards women.
They included allegations that White had also used suggestive or crude language with several female entrepreneurs on social media and elsewhere, leading one to dub him “the LinkedIn lecher”.
He came under additional pressure on Thursday morning after the Nine newspapers reported details of former WiseTech director Christine Holman’s resignation letter accusing him of “sustained intimidation and bullying”.
Holman, now an AGL Energy director among several board roles, was on WiseTech’s board for just 10 months from December 2018, chairing its audit and risk management committee.
A leaked copy of her resignation letter said his bullying behaviour included “aggressive emails, one on one meetings and public berating in both audit & risk committee meetings and board meetings”.
Holman went on to say that: “Despite bringing this unacceptable behaviour to the attention of the chairman and other directors on numerous occasions, this behaviour has not been addressed and instead I have been told to have ‘founder empathy and accept that is how geniuses are’.”
WiseTech shares have fallen more than 20% this week to below $100 amid ongoing scandals around the founder, who owns around a third of the business.
Member concerns
The revelations also caused alarm among Tech Council members about the collateral damage to the peak body’s reputation, but the TCA resisted pressure to act, instead emailing members on Thursday morning telling them that “the board continues to assess and monitor the matter closely and is following its governance processes.”
After the company his resignation as CEO and director of WiseTech after the market closed on Thursday afternoon, White resigned from the TCA board too, telling them that “further to my new role at WiseTech Global, announced this afternoon, I will need to renew my focus on WiseTech and its growth, and on my family.”
The TCA said its board “accepted Richard’s resignation effective immediately”.
The council is chaired by Tesla chair and Blackbird operating partner Robyn Denholm, and its directors include Atlassian cofounder Scott Farquhar and Canva’s Cliff Obrecht.
In WiseTech’s statement to the ASX, White said he’d “been discussing the evolution of the company and succession of the CEO role for many months” with chair Richard Dammery.
“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.
“I want to assure all those who have supported WiseTech, as customers, colleagues, and shareholders, that I remain absolutely committed to seeing this incredible organisation continue to thrive and grow in the coming years.”
He plans to take a short period of leave, then will return to a new full-time, long-term consulting role, focused on product and business development, on the same $1 million salary he was paid as CEO.
He will be known as founder and founding CEO. The appointment is for a 10-year term, with option to extend for a further 5 years by mutual agreement. It includes a termination notice by either party on 2 years’ notice, except for misconduct or material breach.
“This new role will allow me to focus on product and business growth, to create even greater value for shareholders and customers over the long term,” White said.
He will take part in the AGM November 22 and investor day on December 3.
Dammery hailed him as “a true giant of the Australian technology industry”
“Richard has consistently demonstrated a rare combination of foresight, intellect, capability and ambition,” he said.
“All great entrepreneurs achieve what others consider to be impossible, and Richard has most certainly done this at WiseTech.”
The company is now on the hunt for a new CEO. Chief Financial Officer Andrew Cartledge has stepped in as interim CEO.
Governance questions
Swinburne law and corporate governance specialist Helen Bird said White is down but not out, and the saga raises serious questions about how the business operates.
“ Questions arise as to the viability of this arrangement, but time will tell,” she said.
“In the meantime, the company will get on with its enquiry using external lawyers into the settlement of his relationships with several women and the impact of his actions inside the corporation itself. It is the second of these that may yield some further revelations about the workplace culture at WiseTech.
“The company also needs to take a hard look at its governance. It is apparent that the CEO had the board in a thrall and there is a need to reconsider how effective has been the oversight of company operations by the board.
“There are also question marks over succession planning and the steps involved in finding a new CEO, who will have to manage the company and cope with the company’s powerhouse consultant who also happens to be its majority shareholder.”
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