Richard White has cast corporate governance back to the dark ages

Billionaire Richard White’s elevation from a sin-binned human headline/inappropriate social media lothario to executive chairman of $32 billion tech giant WiseTech has set the clock back 10 years on Australia’s corporate governance.

If BHP boss Mike Henry or Commonwealth Bank chief executive Matt Comyn were branded “LinkedIn lechers” for allegedly using suggestive language when offering women professional support, or were called out for alleged bullying and intimidation by one of their board members – even if they, like White, denied those allegations – they wouldn’t have a job.

WiseTech’s boss White, however, just got promoted.

Never mind the allegations: Richard White has been made executive chairman of WiseTech. Credit: Bloomberg

That’s how it rolls when dealing with a founder who owns 37 per cent of the company, which he feels is his baby and his fiefdom, and nervous minority shareholders who believe the business is doomed without him.

After a failed attempt to place him in the faux sin bin – which involved WiseTech offering him a consultancy agreement in which he would still have earned $1 million a year – White is back loud and proud.

Thanks to his new promotion, he has risen in power to move beyond his former position as chief executive to become WiseTech’s executive chairman.

WiseTech has resumed its programming as the Richard White show.

He won’t be fettered by oversight from his company’s former chairman, who along with three other independent directors resigned this week after attempting to release the outcome of a review into White’s conduct.

According to the Australian Financial Review, White regarded the report by the board-appointed law firm as defamatory. Under his new regime, that document is unlikely to see the light of day.

And given White – as executive chairman – gets a pivotal say in appointing new board directors, it is difficult to see how he would want to hire anyone who wasn’t an acolyte, or at least a supporter.

It feels like we fell asleep on Tuesday night in Australia and woke up the next morning in the United States, where governance aspirations about improving diversity and gender equality in business have been walked back, and where the likes of Elon Musk have been ostensibly allowed to ignore governance principles and their conflicts of interests.

While Musk has been pinged by regulators on truthful disclosure (or lack of), he ignores most conventional niceties around the statesmanship expected of captains of industry. Instead, he acts as a social media troll – picking fights with those who disagree with him, and loudly advertising his personal views. White, of course, raises separate issues.

(At least Anthony Albanese has not created a department of government efficiency for White to oversee in his spare time.)

White has been given virtually no leash, despite the numerous personal allegations and complaints about him including from one staff member, a company supplier and a former WiseTech board member.

It turns out the soft laws that provide some of the framework around corporate governance in Australia don’t really capture the indiscretions of which White has been accused.

Even if complaints against White involved relationships with those inside the firm, they would be covered by the company’s internal constitution rather than corporate law or ASX listing rules.

This explains why the only regulatory noise to date has been questions to the company from the ASX around the timing of disclosure around White’s role and the status of signing an agreement to become its consultant. This agreement has been formally ditched given White is returning as executive chairman.

The tech giant is also in the ASX crosshairs because, following its board exodus on Monday, it doesn’t have the mandatory three independent directors on its audit and risk committee – but White says this will be resolved in four weeks when additional directors are appointed.

So WiseTech has resumed its programming as the Richard White show, and those who feel a level of disquiet about the allegations against him can vote with their feet.

White told investors on Wednesday that he is “fully engaged and here for the long haul with invigorated vision, passion and a trove of new ideas to continue to build the company that [remaining director Maree Isaacs] and I created, and that I love so much”.

“You have my absolute commitment to do everything within my power and ability to accelerate the business you have invested in and that has been so successful over the almost nine years since listing,” he vowed.

The investors appeared to lap it up, and WiseTech shares closed 2 per cent higher as renewed leadership certainty trumped the concerns about the scandalous travails of White’s personal life.

Did I say the clock was turned back 10 years? Maybe it’s 20.

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