WiseTech a case of ‘issues in the bedroom migrating to the boardroom’: ASIC

The corporate cop has warned directors it will take a keen interest when an “outbreak of issues in the bedroom migrate to the boardroom” amid the fallout of a scandal engulfing the $28 billion WiseTech Global.

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) last month said it was making early inquiries into the tech giant, which has been thrown into turmoil after multiple allegations of inappropriate conduct by its billionaire founder and biggest shareholder Richard White.

ASIC chair Joe Longo says the regulator will take an interest if alleged misbehaviour starts to impact good governance in the boardroom.Credit: Eamon Gallagher

In February, four independent directors quit the board of WiseTech after failing to agree with founder and major shareholder White over his role at the company.

White, who was forced to step down last year after being accused of bullying and inappropriate conduct, was elevated to executive chairman as the directors announced their resignations. Last month, the directors of WiseTech confirmed that White misled the board about his personal relationships, but his job remains secure.

White has denied allegations of inappropriate conduct and bullying.

ASIC chair Joe Longo on Wednesday said while not every scandal was a breach of the law, the regulator would scrutinise issues that affect good corporate governance.

“[The WiseTech matter] does appear to be an outbreak of issues in the bedroom migrating to the boardroom, and that’s a bit unfortunate for confidence in their governance arrangements,” Longo told an Australian Council of Superannuation Investors conference in Melbourne.

“What happens in people’s personal lives is a matter for them. The issue for me as a regulator is if that alleged misbehaviour starts to impact good governance in the boardroom, and it becomes a distraction, and if that’s the case, that might be something we’re interested in.”

At the same conference, a former WiseTech director who quit the board six years ago after accusing the software giant’s billionaire founder Richard White of intimidation and bullying, said she was repeatedly told her chances of ever sitting in a boardroom were “virtually zero”.

Christine Holman at the ACSI conference on Wednesday. Credit: Eamon Gallagher

Christine Holman, speaking broadly, said she had decided to quit boards in the past after overestimating her ability to bring about change, as well as underestimating the power of chief executives to influence independent board directors.

“I’ve been told so many times [after quitting WiseTech] that my chances of getting another board position was virtually zero, which is fine because I didn’t do this for the money,” Holman told the conference on Wednesday morning, in her first public comments on the scandals engulfing WiseTech.

Holman, who is a director at AGL, Metcash and Football Australia, reflected on advice she received as a teenager. “If you have crossed that line of integrity, good luck trying to redraw that line, and it’s a burden you’re going to live with for the rest of your life, and I’m just not prepared to cross that line of integrity ever.”

The Age, Sydney Morning Herald and The Australian Financial Review in October revealed Holman had resigned in 2019 after expressing concerns about a range of significant problems within the company, including the conduct of White as its chief executive.

In a resignation memo to the board she accused 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’.”

WiseTech has been in turmoil after this masthead and The Australian Financial Review last year revealed the tumultuous relationship between White and his wife, Zena Nasser, and the control she is alleged to exert over his business affairs.

White was dubbed the “LinkedIn Lecher” after claims he approached women on the business networking site, and it soon became clear his interests were of a sexual nature.

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