WiseTech’s Richard White makes brazen captain’s call in victory for anti-woke

Richard White being clearly back at the helm is the latest gamble for WiseTech investors to digest, and it raises a heap of governance issues. But do investors really mind?

WiseTech founder Richard White was involved in a court case with wellness entrepreneur Linda Rogan. Picture: NewsWire

WiseTech’s billionaire founder Richard White has left nobody in doubt about who runs the $31.6bn logistics software titan in what appears to be a victory for the anti-woke brigade.

After telling investors last December that he wouldn’t seek to interfere in the company’s management, he has now done just that after assuming the role of executive chairman.

Not only that, White will oversee the search process for a permanent CEO.

Former CFO Andrew Cartledge stepped into the role as interim boss late last year, parking his retirement plans, after White resigned as CEO and from WiseTech’s board after a string of sensational allegations, including that the tycoon exchanged business advice for sex.

With a 37 per cent stake in WiseTech, White is the company’s biggest shareholder. He founded it from nothing 30 years ago, and is now using that clout to show everyone who really is the boss.

But investors rightly want to know what has “fundamentally changed” since last December when White shared the stage at Sydney’s W Hotel with former chair Richard Dammery at WiseTech’s investor day. This is the same day that White vowed he wouldn’t interfere with the company’s management.

“If you have the good of the business in your sights and you have a disagreement, what you’ve got is an opportunity for improvement,” White said at the time.

“It’s not a time to override the other person just because you can and say this is the way we’re going to do it; that might have to happen in the end so you have consistency, but ultimately what you’re trying to do is to stop worrying about the mechanism.”

That now appears like a one-way street.

But what has fundamentally changed is Donald Trump. Since his inauguration on January 20 has also emboldened leaders.

The standard rule book around environment, social and governance - or ESG - has been thrown out the window to focus on fundamentals rather than perceived wokeness.

Indeed on an analyst call on Wednesday, White declared that his cutomers were concerned about the scandals that have engulfed him and WiseTech.

“They (international customers) don’t think about this market or these governance issues in Australia, they think about what is right for them for their product and their business,” he said.

But after Monday’s boardroom exodus in which four independent directors, including Dammery, quit the company in protest of White’s new $1m-a-year consulting role, WiseTech no longer meets ASX listing rules, requiring that its audit and risk committee comprise at least three non-executive directors.

“The company intends to appoint additional independent directors as soon as practicable so that this rule can be complied with. The board expects that at least one appointment will occur within 4 weeks,” WiseTech said on Wednesday.

Bear in mind too that WiseTech is still undergoing a governance review into allegations surrounding White. And there is no guarantee that the findings of that review will be made public.

Investors hailed White’s resignation from the board and executive last October as preventing WiseTech’s share price from imploding.

But in the past week, almost $10bn has been blasted from WiseTech’s market value.

The question is, will White’s comeback restore the company’s fortunes which up until last year was one of Australia’s greatest innovation success stories. Or will his presence and clout cast a big shadow over the business that will hamper its recovery?

Originally published as WiseTech’s Richard White makes brazen captain’s call in victory for anti-woke