WiseTech awarded lucrative contract to lover of billionaire founder Richard White

A former lover of WiseTech founder Richard White was awarded a lucrative contract to provide the company with computer monitors and Apple TVs at a time when the pair were in a relationship.

The Herald, The Age and The Australian Financial Review can reveal WiseTech is investigating historical transactions between WiseTech and the woman’s company, including the 2015 purchase of 80 Samsung 40-inch 4K computer monitors for more than $100,000, and more than 36 Apple TV streaming boxes for around $3600.

White did not say whether he told WiseTech he was in a relationship with the woman at the time when the purchases were approved.

WiseTech founder Richard White will become a consultant to the company.Credit: Dominic Lorrimer

Instead, a spokesperson for White said the purchases were “at arm’s length and priced competitively”. The Apple TVs were Christmas bonus gifts for some staff, which did not include White, the spokesperson said.

The WiseTech board did not answer questions about the transactions between WiseTech and the woman’s company in 2015. Instead, a spokeswoman said the law firm investigation “remains ongoing”. She said it was “anticipated” that an update would be made ahead of the annual meeting on Friday.

The woman made claims against White in 2020 and threatened to tell the WiseTech board about their relationship. At the time, White briefed the board about the woman’s allegations and provided the subcommittee with a statutory declaration that said they were not true.

Beauty entrepreneur Linda Rogan and tech billionaire Richard White.Credit: Nick Moir / Oscar Colman

White’s spokesperson said he provided the current board with “all requisite accounting records and invoices, extracted from the company’s current accounts system”. They said this system was in use in 2015 and still held the records.

“He has also provided the same data and supporting documentation to the previous WiseTech board,” the spokesperson said.

The transactions cast fresh light on how the personal dealings of White, 69, overlap into his business world. As the founder of Australia’s largest listed technology company, White projected an image of a carefully considered entrepreneur who was focused on managing risk.

“I’ve spent time making sure, as much as possible, that I’m not taking risks,” he told the Financial Review in June.

However, White’s personal life became public following a recent legal battle with a former lover, Sydney wellness entrepreneur Linda Rogan, over a $90,000 furniture bill.

This masthead previously revealed White was in a long-term relationship with WiseTech employee Christine Kontos and gifted her a $7 million mansion in Melbourne.

The whisky room in the Melbourne mansion, which sold for nearly $7 million.

On Thursday, the mastheads revealed White, via a personal company, is bankrolling a property development in western Sydney which was formerly owned by his wife’s ex-husband, who fled to Dubai with corporate debts of $80 million and was a suspect in a firebombing investigation in the mid-2000s.

White stood down as chief executive of WiseTech last month after he was accused of bullying and inappropriate conduct. White has denied the allegations. The company has hired Herbert Smith Freehills and Seyfarth Shaw to review the issues that were first raised by an investigation published by this masthead.

WiseTech said White would take a brief break before taking up a “full-time, long-term consulting role” where he will be paid the same $1 million annual salary that he received as chief executive.

WiseTech listed on the ASX in 2016. Only two current WiseTech directors, co-founder Maree Isaacs and Shearwater Capital founder Charles Gibbon, were on the board at the time that the allegations raised by the woman were considered. The new directors were told about the allegations only when the company received questions from the Herald, The Age and The Australian Financial Review.

A spokesperson for White said there was a short supply of 4K 40-inch monitors, and the woman in 2015 and the woman’s company were able to source them at the same price or below that of other suppliers. The monitors were received over a two-month period, the spokesperson said.

They said White’s only involvement in the transaction was approving the invoices, noting he did that for all computer suppliers at the time.

“Given the short supply of these type of monitors, a standard term of supply was the requirement for prompt payment. This is not unusual, particularly when there is short supply of a critical piece of equipment,” they said.

“Other computer equipment suppliers at the time also asked for and received prompt payment as a way of receiving the best price and earliest delivery.”

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