Richard White says resignation a ‘circuit-breaker’ for WiseTech
By David Swan
The billionaire former CEO of software maker WiseTech Global, Richard White, says he wasn’t pressured into resigning from leading the company he founded 30 years ago, telling investors that the decision to step down was his own.
White resigned as WiseTech chief executive in October amid a media storm, following an investigation by The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and The Australian Financial Review that revealed he paid for a multimillion-dollar house for an employee and had been accused by an outgoing board member of intimidation and bullying.
WiseTech told investors last month that White would take a brief break before taking up a “full-time, long-term consulting role” where he will be paid the same annual salary – $1 million – that he received as chief executive.
WiseTech founder Richard White at the company’s investor day.Credit: The Age.
Describing his decision to resign as a “circuit-breaker”, White said in a fireside chat at WiseTech’s investor day on Tuesday that his move into a consultancy role would be beneficial for the company.
“Firstly, my natural resting state is actually focusing on products … So this was a decision that I made by myself and I brought it to the board,” White told investors.
“It was a circuit-breaker because some of the noise in the media was hurting the company, and I wanted to make sure that the company was protected. But equally, I’d spent the previous day in a series of product meetings, and I came back into that thinking how wonderful that felt and how much more meaning it gave to me.”
White also maintained that despite any management upheaval, WiseTech’s culture would remain consistent.
“Our credo says culture eats strategy for lunch,” he said. “If you have a strong strategy, but you don’t have aligned things that have a common purpose and mission, you’re not going to get the strategy to work.”
A fireside chat kicked off WiseTech’s investor day.
The company’s board announced last month that a review led by law firms Herbert Smith Freehills and Seyfarth Shaw LLP into White’s conduct was ongoing but had so far not found any evidence of impropriety by White, including on issues relating to relationship disclosures or improper use of company funds.
The firms have interviewed 21 people in 31 interviews and were probing allegations that White failed to disclose personal relationships to the board and misused company funds.
The review also dismissed bullying claims, finding that White had a “direct approach” that was consistent with the process of “creative abrasion”, which created value for the organisation but could also be confronting and uncomfortable for others. The review remains ongoing.
As this masthead reported at the weekend, White now owns even more of the company after agreeing to buy 10.2 million shares in the business from the group’s co-founder Maree Isaacs, who remains an executive director of the group.
WiseTech is currently being led by interim chief executive Andrew Cartledge, while the company searches for a new CEO and CFO.
On Tuesday, chairman Richard Dammery told investors of that search that “we don’t need to rush”.
“We’ve got time on our side,” he said. “We’re going to make sure that we hire from inside the organisation, or outside, whichever way it rolls, the person is best suited to allow the company to execute on this growth potential.”
At the company’s AGM last month, Dammery said WiseTech would downgrade its financial guidance as a result of the events of the past two months. It anticipates FY25 revenue of between $1.2 billion and $1.3 billion, compared with the previously forecast range of between $1.3 billion and $1.35 billion.
“Upfront, I need to say that the board is disappointed that the diversion of Richard White’s attention away from product development at a critical juncture has impacted the timing of the release of some of the three breakthrough products,” Dammery said at the time.
“This will result in changes to both revenue and earnings guidance.”
Analysts have labelled the saga a “media brouhaha” and remain bullish on the company’s ability to continue to grow despite the revenue forecast downgrade and product delays.
WiseTech shares were down 1.4 per cent at $127.67 in afternoon trading.
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