WiseTech Global’s Richard White takes company from start-up to ASX heavyweight
The company founded by a former dishwasher and AC/DC guitar tech is now worth more than Qantas.
It’s been a long way to the top for billionaire tech entrepreneur Richard White.
The former AC/DC guitar technician’s company Wisetech Global has climbed to a record valuation, overtaking Australian icon Qantas in the process.
Shares in the ASX-listed Wisetech eclipsed $30 for the first time on Thursday, giving the logistics software maker a market capitalisation of $9.61 billion.
Its 64-year-old founder Richard White, who used to repair guitars for AC/DC and The Angels, retains a 48.8 per cent stake in the company, giving him a net worth of $4.69 billion.
It’s a far cry from the dirty deeds Mr White used to do dirt cheap. The CEO’s first job was dishwasher for a Sydney function centre run by his grandfather. He’s also a qualified refrigeration engineer.
The CEO ranked 20th on The List — Australia’s Richest 250 when it was published by The Australian in late March.
But on today’s numbers he would be worth more than Clive Palmer, who placed 13th with a net worth of $4.51bn.
Fellow WiseTech shareholders and non-executive directors Charles Gibbon and Michael Gregg also made the list, with wealth of $470m and $320m respectively, while company co-founder Maree Isaacs is looking likely to join next year’s list with holdings worth around $350m.
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Mr White started the software company in 1994 after running a successful guitar repair business and short stints in various bands. After deciding he wanted to ditch the music industry, he navigated through a list of ventures from lighting design to computer wholesaling.
All of these proved profitable, but he was convinced he needed to tackle something bigger and commit to it.
“I decided that I had to choose something and stick with it for a very long time to create real value. I had done things but had always exited before the big bang,” Mr White told The Australian in an interview.
“I was doing network and integration consulting and a couple of customers were freight forwarders. Their systems were just terrible. I started working within these businesses as a consultant, writing software, and realised that there was this huge complex problem that no one was addressing.”
Wisetech provides cloud-based software for the logistics industry, giving freight forwarders a single platform to manage the movement of goods from start to finish. It floated on the ASX in 2016 at just $4 per share.
Blue Ocean analyst Stuart Turner told The Australian that Richard White was a powerhouse CEO and had been for 20 years.
“He’s been leading this charge for the last 20 years, it’s remarkable,” he said. “This is a single-purpose company all about its platform and growth, and whatever it takes to maintain and extend its lead over the competition.
“I think it’s just starting to sink in to investors now.
“There’s no software company doing the same thing and trying to be better than them. The competition is the existing infrastructure and existing systems, which are inefficient.”
Additional reporting: John Stensholt.