Richard White’s new gig is better than his old job

If it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck … (you know the rest). But for WiseTech Global’s billionaire lothario founder, Richard White, he might technically have lost the chief executive title but not the main gig.

He receives the same salary ($1 million), he reports directly to the board, and he takes to the podium at annual meetings and investor days. White will also be at the helm of the company’s strategy and its products, which is the most important role any chief executive would have.

Yet the duck called Richard White now has the title of consultant.

Founder CEOs are often a protected species, and one would have some sympathy for WiseTech’s board given that White is the company’s biggest shareholder and is widely seen by the market as the brains behind it.

WiseTech founder Richard White will become a consultant to the company.Credit: Dominic Lorrimer

WiseTech’s board couldn’t afford to get rid of its key man, but after being labelled the “LinkedIn Lecher” courtesy of revelations published by The Australian Financial Review, The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald, it couldn’t afford to keep him as chief executive either.

It almost goes without saying that if the allegations made against White were levelled at any other regular chief executive of a listed company, he or she would have been marched out the door. But for WiseTech’s board, White’s personal proclivities were an optics problem which it has addressed with an optics solution.

In other words, it is a solution designed to keep White firmly inside the building at WiseTech.

White, who has been hiding his light under a (fortified) bushel in recent weeks, told shareholders on Friday: “It has been a challenging time for me personally, my family and close friends and for the company I have built and truly love. I remain absolutely committed to seeing this incredible organisation continue to thrive and grow in the coming years.”

In declaring that White would stand down from the top job, the board portrayed it as a decision made by the founder CEO – one that WiseTech’s other directors agreed with. Nary a hint of sanction or punishment, and no mention of the conduct that was behind White’s remarkable “Clayton’s” departure.

Indeed, White was portrayed as a selfless leader, a technology prophet in his own time, selflessly stepping down as CEO for the sake of the company, its staff and its shareholders.

Said WiseTech chairman Richard Dammery: “By proposing this change in role, Richard has put the company and its shareholders first, and he has taken the natural step in evolving his role as founder to best add value to WiseTech for the long term.

“Richard is a true giant of the Australian technology industry, and he has built one of our most remarkable corporate success stories.”

It’s quite the spin, and while White should get credit for building a remarkably successful business, one has to wonder just how much this scandal has truly cost him. WiseTech’s stock took some hits as the revelations unfolded, but it has clawed back a fair bit of lost ground, and White’s tech guru reputation has evaporated. But other than that, there’s not a lot changing for him.

In fact, in his new role, he creates a wicked problem for WiseTech’s board, which is now looking for a new chief executive.

This new CEO will require an unusual skill set, which includes dealing with a consultant whose influence over the company is greater than that of the person who is its titular head. This will require artful wizardry of the highest order.

The closest analogy to this would be working at Fortescue, where you may get to call the shots on the day-to-day operations of the iron ore miner, but everyone knows that Fortescue’s billionaire founder, Andrew Forrest, is making the big decisions.

Investors understand White will retain power at WiseTech, which would explain why the company’s share price has found a spring in its step.

White’s new consultancy agreement has a 10-year term, with an option to extend for another five years (at which time he will be 84), and it is a full-time role.

That will give White more job security than the average chief executive.

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