New allegations of inappropriate conduct raised against Richard White

WiseTech Global’s billionaire founder Richard White has not signed the 10-year consultancy agreement announced by the company in October and faces three new allegations of inappropriate conduct made since the board cleared him of bullying, harassment and intimidation three months ago.

White was forced to resign as the software giant’s chief executive on October 24 after The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and The Australian Financial Review revealed he bought a $7 million Melbourne waterfront property for employee and former partner Christine Kontos; paid $2 million to settle a dispute with another lover; and had been accused by WiseTech director Christine Holman of intimidation in October 2019.

WiseTech Global founder Richard White.Credit: Dominic Lorrimer

At the time of White’s resignation, WiseTech chairman Richard Dammery attempted to draw a line under the saga by giving White a full-time consultancy deal worth $1 million per year and commissioning Herbert Smith Freehills and Seyfarth Shaw to investigate the allegations.

WiseTech told investors in November that the law firms had cleared White of serious wrongdoing in preliminary findings on five allegations.

However, since that time two women have made serious complaints through their lawyers, alleging inappropriate conduct by White. Due to their former roles as an employee and a contractor to the logistics company, the complaints have been sent to both White and WiseTech’s board, according to multiple sources familiar with the situation but unable to speak publicly because the matter is confidential.

A third woman, a former WiseTech employee who took up a position at one of White’s private companies, has also made a serious complaint through her lawyers to White directly. White is represented by Clayton Utz.

Richard White with his wife, Zena Nasser. The pair married in the US in 2024.

A spokeswoman for WiseTech confirmed the board was considering the two complaints that had been made directly to the company.

The first concerns allegations of inappropriate conduct by White and his wife Zena Nasser, including messages sent to the alleged victim’s work email. “It is being considered as part of the board review,” a WiseTech spokeswoman said.

The second concerns allegations of inappropriate behaviour by White towards a contractor. The spokeswoman said the “complaint has been brought to the board’s attention”. She said the company was unaware of the third complaint that has been made to White directly.

This masthead has decided not to detail the complaints because they are not proven and not yet part of formal legal proceedings.

There is no suggestion that White or Nasser have behaved inappropriately, only that the allegations were made.

Asked how many women had made complaints about his behaviour, White said he had been the subject of attempts to extract money from him.

“I started building WiseTech over 30 years ago in the basement of my home in south-west Sydney. I came from modest beginnings, worked hard every day to grow WiseTech, and over the past few years amassed vast wealth very quickly,” the businessman said in a lengthy statement.

“It is fair to say I have, for much of my career, been surrounded by childhood friends and highly educated technology people that I could always trust. This led me to being open, trusting, generous and as a consequence, naive to how extreme wealth changes things.

White was to take on an advisory role at the software firm after resigning as chief executive last year.Credit: Dominic Lorrimer

“I was certainly not prepared for the numerous attempts to extract money from me that I have received over the past five years from people from all walks of life (both male and female). I am now much more guarded, sceptical and prepared to defend myself against spurious claims.”

It is the first time complaints about White’s conduct have been made directly to the company. Until now, inappropriate conduct allegations directed at White have been treated by the board as personal matters.

The WiseTech spokeswoman said: “Given the board review is still active and ongoing, we don’t consider it appropriate to answer this question.”

White is one of the richest people in Australia, according to estimates published by the Financial Review Rich List. Most of his wealth is tied up in his 37.4 per cent stake in WiseTech, which is worth $16.5 billion.

In October, WiseTech chairman Richard Dammery offered White a full-time consultancy deal worth $1 million per year.

On the afternoon of White’s resignation on October 24, WiseTech told investors that he would take a short period of leave before transitioning “into a new role with the company that he founded and has led for 30 years”.

“When Mr White returns from leave, he will commence a new full-time, long-term consulting role, focused on product and business development,” the statement said. White was given the title of founder and founding CEO and was required to report directly to the board.

In November, the board said it was “committed to continuing to evolve its governance processes, with the advice and support of [Freehills] and Seyfarth Shaw. This will focus in particular on governing the new consulting arrangement with Mr White and supporting interim CEO Andrew Cartledge.”

Dammery told investors on the same day that the company would not lose White’s talents. “Given our collaborative and mature team, the board is confident that Richard, a new CEO and the team will continue to work together to ensure that the company realises its full potential,” he said.

However, more than three months on, White and WiseTech have not signed a contract for the consultancy deal, according to sources close to the businessman and the company, who were not authorised to speak publicly because of the confidential nature of the talks.

The lack of agreement in place may be a surprise to investors. Following the announcement of White’s deal to stay with the company, WiseTech’s shares recovered much of the $8 billion slide that had been caused by the disclosure of the allegations made against him.

“While the key terms were agreed in the announcement dated 24 October 2024, the board is awaiting Mr White’s response to the more detailed written terms it has proposed to him, noting that Mr White has been overseas for a considerable period recently,” the WiseTech spokeswoman said. “The board is open to the definitive agreement being either a consultancy agreement with Mr White’s company, or amending the terms of his existing employment contract to document the announced consulting role of founder and founding CEO.”

People close to White said he had privately expressed frustration with the decision to remove him as chief executive and informally discussed moving WiseTech to the United States in the longer term.

A spokesperson for White said the agreement was in “the process of being finalised”.

White, who has been in Dubai and Switzerland recently, said he intended to sign. “As the largest shareholder in WiseTech I am fully committed to doing what is best for the company,” he said.

In late November, White purchased millions of WiseTech shares from Maree Isaacs, who co-founded the software company in 1994.

As the largest shareholder in WiseTech, White exerts a significant influence over the company’s direction. White has recently updated his will to include Nasser, their baby daughter, and Nasser’s teenage daughter from her first marriage as major beneficiaries.

Among the changes, Nasser’s sister, Sue Nasser, and stockbroker Charlie Aitken have been made executors of White’s estate. White’s brother Andrew is also an executor. The changes to White’s will mean Nasser would become a significant WiseTech shareholder should the billionaire die.

The personal lives of White and Nasser were thrown into the spotlight in October amid a legal battle with White’s former lover, wellness entrepreneur Linda Rogan, over a $90,000 furniture bill.

Nasser is a former criminal defence lawyer who once had an array of Sydney underworld figures as clients, including drug importer Michael Ibrahim and convicted murderer Bassam Hamzy.

The tumultuous relationship has included Nasser obtaining an interim apprehended violence order against White in March 2021. She later withdrew the order, and the couple married in the US last year.

When WiseTech announced the preliminary findings of the review in November, it said the board had “robust and challenging discussions” with White, who had a “direct approach”. The board described his management style as consistent with the process of “creative abrasion at the company”. At the time, the board said that inquiries were continuing.

The preliminary review cleared White of the allegations made by Holman. She had 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”.

The billionaire was also cleared of any misconduct alleged by a former lover, with whom he entered into a confidential settlement in 2021.

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