Billionaire’s ‘bullying, intimidation’ made WiseTech unbearable, claims top director

WiseTech Global’s billionaire founder Richard White was accused of intimidation, bullying and overseeing poor corporate governance by one of the country’s leading directors as she quit the software giant’s board.

Director Christine Holman resigned from the WiseTech Global board in October 2019 after expressing concerns about a range of significant problems within the company, including the conduct of White as its chief executive.

Christine Holman resigned from the WiseTech Global board citing concerns about founder and CEO Richard White.Credit: Marija Ercegovac

Holman is a prominent former Telstra executive who now sits on several boards including AGL Energy, the country’s largest electricity retailer, and the McGrath Foundation. She had joined the WiseTech board in December 2018, where she was the chairwoman of the audit and risk management committee until she resigned 10 months later.

In a resignation memo to the board – excerpts of which were shared with The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Australian Financial Review by a company insider — Holman detailed her concerns including the failure to disclose to shareholders the remuneration package of a senior executive.

She also attacked the company’s corporate governance failures, accusing White of “sustained intimidation and bullying … in the form of aggressive emails, one-on-one meetings and public berating in both audit and risk committee meetings and board meetings”.

“This behaviour of the CEO has been witnessed by many, including the other directors,” she wrote. “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’.”

The revelation that Holman quit the board due to her concerns adds to an intensifying crisis at the logistics software company, which was valued at $41 billion on Monday. Shares slumped again on Wednesday, taking the total market capitalisation wiped from WiseTech Global to $5 billion. WiseTech’s growth has seen White amass a personal fortune of more than $10 billion, according to the Financial Review Rich List.

The Age, The Herald and the Financial Review have previously revealed that White gave, or allegedly promised to give, two multimillion-dollar houses to women with whom he had a sexual relationship. One of those homes, a $7 million waterfront property in Melbourne, was transferred to WiseTech employee Christine Kontos only last year.

A third property, for another woman, was at the centre of a separate Federal Court brawl that ended in a settlement earlier this week. That woman, Sydney wellness entrepreneur Linda Rogan, had alleged White expected sex in exchange for an investment in her company.

Holman is not the only senior WiseTech figure to have quit the company in recent years. WiseTech’s head of legal, Katherine Lowe, quit around the same time as Holman after just four months in the job. Arlene Tansey, another board director, left the board in 2022.

Arlene Tansey left WiseTech after a short tenure.Credit: Louie Douvis

Holman, Lowe and Tansey declined to comment. It is unclear why Lowe and Tansey left the company, and there is no suggestion they share Holman’s concerns.

On Tuesday, the WiseTech Global board said that White had “confirmed that he has complied with the policy and disclosed appropriately” his relationship with Kontos, as required by the company’s strict code of conduct.

This masthead is not suggesting that White is guilty of intimidation, bullying and overseeing poor corporate governance, only that there may be grounds to investigate those allegations.

Three people close to the company, who spoke on condition of confidentiality because they were not authorised to discuss these issues, confirmed that Holman had serious concerns about the governance of WiseTech Global before she left.

“I believe that the CEO’s belief that ‘nothing is broken and therefore there is nothing to be fixed’ is code for ‘do as I say’ and be a rubber stamp to his decisions,” she wrote in her letter. “It is clear to me that remaining a director … would require me to conform to the standards, values and culture espoused by the Board. It is something I am not prepared to do.”

A board spokeswoman said: “WiseTech does not comment on board deliberations nor on behalf of any individual member and their decisions. The company has made the appropriate disclosures as required by the ASX listing rules.”

The board did not answer a series of questions about Holman or Tansey’s resignations, whether current directors were informed about the reasons why they left or any concerns they may have raised. The board has previously given detailed answers on its deliberations about allegations made against White in 2020.

Holman did not specify which executive’s remuneration she was concerned about.

This masthead has previously reported that some WiseTech Global directors were concerned that the company’s then chief growth officer Gail Williamson was paid a $2.7 million annual salary – double what White earned as chief executive.

One director noted the issue “has the capacity to seriously harm the company and its shareholders on numerous fronts”, according to leaked board documents.

A spokeswoman for White has previously said the businessman only met Williamson during her job interview, and only had “work-related interactions with her”.

This masthead is not suggesting that Williamson was not deserving of her remuneration, or unqualified, only that the board raised this issue.

Asked about the issues confronting WiseTech Global on Wednesday, Australian Securities and Investments Commission deputy chairwoman Sarah Court said the corporate regulator was monitoring the allegations closely. “We are aware of that situation,” she said.

With Sumeyya Ilanbey

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