Richard White digs in at WiseTech as scandal deepens

The guitar-playing, self-made billionaire Richard White has been the gregarious public face of WiseTech. Picture: Jonathan Ng

While the WiseTech board grapples with front page personal issues around founder Richard White, the escalation of the issue this week with the emergence of yet another spurned girlfriend highlight the pressures on the boards of founder led businesses.

WiseTech chairman Richard Dammery has held private discussions with White about the 69-year-old taking a break from the company to give him time to sort out his personal life. Despite that move, the indications are that White has no intention of going anywhere.

“I remain fully committed and laser-focused on delivering WiseTech’s strategy,” he told The Australian in a statement on Thursday.

“I have spent the last 30 years building WiseTech from the basement of my home into what today is a leading developer and provider of software solutions to the logistics execution industry globally. My commitment and focus over this period have been unwavering and continues to be so.

“I am driven and focused on the business and its growth and excited about the opportunities that WiseTech has, to continue to create value for our shareholders and customers.”

Them’s fighting words from a man who has faced down many issues and challenges in his corporate life, including questions over its profits that saw its share price slump from $16.27 to as low as $9.49 in 2018, and an attack by short sellers that included a scathing report by J Capital, labelling WiseTech software “a clunker”.

While the shares were down by about 3 per cent to $127 on Thursday, they are still more than double what they were trading at a year ago.

Without White, WiseTech would be a shadow of itself – if it would exist at all – and its share price would crash.

Self-made entrepreneurs who have created billions of dollars in wealth for themselves and their shareholders are a very different breed from corporate CEOs. Think Tesla and Space X founder Elon Musk, or Microsoft founder Bill Gates, or Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, who have all faced their share of controversy over their personal lives but continue undaunted.

White may have found himself in the centre of a media storm over his personal life, with accusations from a former lover, Sydney beauty entrepreneur Linda Rogan.

WiseTech founder Richard White and wellness entrepreneur Linda Rogan. Picture: NewsWire

But he has been critical to the success of his logistics software company, which he founded 30 years ago in the basement of his home, and will continue to be so.

Dammery is now in the delicate situation of having to work with the determined, hard-driven White as the founder, 35 per cent shareholder and key driver of the company while managing issues of shareholders and external stakeholders.

The share price – so far at least – has held up well, with shareholders critically aware that without White at the helm of the company the value of their holdings would crash.

But like Tesla chair Robyn Denholm, Dammery knows that White is no ordinary person.

The issue for Dammery is how he handles a strong-willed chief executive who regards the issues that have hit the front pages as purely personal issues, with concerns by other stakeholders.

Court cases can take a long time – sometimes years – to settle, so chances are the Wise vs Rogan issue will drag on for some time.

Dammery and the board could be faced with a long-running sore of potentially embarrassing and reputationally damaging issues that could be aired in court.

Until now, White has been the outgoing, gregarious public face of the company, the energetic, charismatic presenter at corporate events, one with a long and successful history of dealing with the media, which has lapped up his corporate success story.

The guitar-playing self-made billionaire who once repaired guitars for AC/DC and who established logistics software company WiseTech in 1994, listing it on the ASX in 2006, has always been a great interview for the stories of the lives of rich Australians that are lapped up by readers.

WiseTech shareholders have had a great ride in recent times, and whatever happens they owe a considerable amount to White.

But the issue for Dammery, which is being watched closely by corporate Australia, is how long the issues around White’s personal issues will continue.

Are there any more surprises around the corner and, if so, how much of a drag will they be on the company?

White has been married in the past, but until recently was single for many years before marrying long-term girlfriend Zena Nasser.

“What if more former girlfriends emerge?” was one question being asked around town this week.

“So what?” One White supporter told the Australian on Thursday.

“So he has had girlfriends in the past?”

The issues facing Dammery and his board is very different from the situation facing the board of Super Retail, which involves allegations against the chief executive by former staff members, or those facing the once listed David Jones board when its charismatic chief executive, Mark McInnes, faced a complaint from a staff member.

Jenna Riches. Picture: Jane Dempster

In this case, the issues facing White don’t cross into the lines of employer/employee situations, where there are now much clearer lines of what is appropriate and what isn’t.

Initially, the WiseTech board was able to make the reasonable comment that the issue was a personal one that had nothing to do with his work, but events have moved on from there with the emergence of a new former lover, Jenna Riches, putting it under more pressure to take charge.

Questions will continue to be asked about how Dammery and the board should handle the ­situation.

One issue being raised by several observers spoken to by The Australian is the distraction factor faced by the chief executive, who is newly married with a young baby and now handling a personal crisis.

“It’s the distraction factor”, said one high level corporate adviser.

With the founder and corporate face of the business facing legal and personal issues, how much attention can he give to the day-to-day running of a global company?

Shareholder groups are already concerned about company chairs and directors having too many board seats, ­given the ­demands of running listed companies.

This was an issue facing Qantas chair John Mullen at the TWE annual meeting on Thursday.

But explosive personal issues for the newly married White are the result of self-made problems, which potentially can be even more distracting.

But again, White’s fighting words show he is a fighter who is not easily cowed by bad publicity.

Entrepreneurs having private affairs – often several at a time – is not new for Australia or anywhere around the world.

Many people, including wives, are well aware of the names of mistresses – casual and not so casual – of corporate leaders.

Power, money and business success have long proved to be attractive for corporate leaders and entrepreneurs.

There are many more stories about corporate leaders and entrepreneurs that are well known and don’t always hit the headlines.

But the issue for the chairs and directors of listed companies is what happens when those relationships go sour and private ­affairs spill onto the front page?

The issue for Dammery will be how he handles his relationship with White and how he himself navigates the situation with stakeholders including shareholders, employees and customers in the current era of discussions of corporate ethics and social issues of companies.

“Boards, through their chair, need to be able to have robust conversations with the CEO,” one corporate governance expert who did not want to be quoted personally told The Australian.

“Ultimately this needs to be guided by what is in the best interests of the company.”

The governance expert noted that expectations on corporate leaders have “increased in recent years given the focus on ESG and non-financial risks, and also including modelling the desired culture and behaviours”.

But White is an entrepreneur, and entrepreneurs are a different breed – more driven and more ­focused than many others, even at the top level of corporations, who in the end are employees.

How Dammery handles the situation will be watched closely, with the heady combination of sex, money, Sydney property and a court case providing more fuel ahead for the front pages.