How the rich invest: Richard White

A handful of WiseTech directors look set to follow billionaire founder Richard White onto the rich list — here’s how.

WiseTech Global's Richard White (blue shirt) with workers (from left-Right) Nataliia Mishchenko, Miranda Letford, Igor Nuhnov (seated) and Christos Moustakas . The employment contract of workers at WiseTech Global requires employees to meet with their manager if they work more than 40 hours a week regularly. Photographed at their workplace headquarters in Alexandria, Sydney. Pic - Sam Mooy

Name: Richard White

Age: 63

Lives: Sydney

Estimated wealth: $1.6bn

Source: WiseTech Global shares

Secrets to success: Building a logistics software business from Sydney and acquiring dozens of bolt-on acquisitions around the world

Tech billionaire Richard White is set to be joined on the rich list by at least one of the directors of his WiseTech Holdings, so successful has the logistics software firm been this year.

Little known non-executive director Charles Gibbon, a former private equity executive who has just stepped down as WiseTech chairman after a decade in the role, has quietly amassed a paper fortune that touched $500 million last week.

At that level Gibbon, among a group of WiseTech directors that have enjoyed huge increases in their paper fortunes since the company floated on the ASX in April 2016, would easily reach the ranks of Australia’s wealthy elite.

Gibbon’s stake is now worth about $430m after the WiseTech (WTC) share price fell on Friday before recovering on Monday morning.

He has been a shareholder in WiseTech since 2005 and was last week stood down as non-executive chairman, a role he had held since 2006.

Gibbon has worked for Quadrant Private Equity and also held roles at Russell Private Equity, Morgan Grenfell Australia and Schroders Australia. He is also a director of private NSW beef export company Monbeef, and owns property in the state’s south highlands. But his WiseTech stake is by far his biggest asset.

And if the WiseTech share price keeps rising — it is already up about seven times since listing — Gibbon will not be the only debutant with links to White’s company on the rich list.

Another non-executive director, Michael Gregg, has shares worth about $330m and WiseTech’s company secretary Maree Isaacs becoming the wealthiest female executive on the ASX with a $250m stake.

Gregg was formerly managing director of the listed Health Communication Network, of which Gibbon was a director before it was acquired by Primary Health Care in 2005. Both joined WiseTech the same year.

Isaacs’ official title at WiseTech is executive director and head of invoicing and licensing. She co-founded the company with White back in 1994 and before then worked with him at computer consulting and systems firm Real Tech Systems Integration and Clear Group, a technology equipment distributor.

WiseTech’s annual report says that given White and Isaacs have each have significant equity interests their motivations are aligned with shareholders and therefore “they share the joy and feel the pain”.

They are also have property interests aligned with WiseTech, which paid the duo $158,000 to rent apartments from them in the year to June 30.

WiseTech also paid White and Isaacs $787,000 and $715,000 in rent for office space and data centre services respectively in the US.

But the property income is dwarfed by White’s share fortune, which surged to as high as a whopping $3.5 billion last week, so quickly did the company’s stock rise after its profit result beat expectations.

It has been a heady rise for White, who worked in the family refrigeration business before repairing instruments for rock bands like AC/DC and The Angels, to then providing lighting equipment and then entering the logistics technology industry.