Billionaire founder Richard White continues to face scrutiny over allegations of inappropriate conduct. Despite a prior board investigation that cleared him of bullying, harassment, and intimidation, White now confronts new accusations from former employees and associates.
WiseTech Global's billionaire founder, Richard White, has not signed the 10-year consultancy agreement announced by the company in October and faces three new allegations of inappropriate conduct made since the board cleared him of bullying, harassment, and intimidation three months ago. The allegations, brought by former employees and associates, paint a concerning picture of White's conduct. One allegation involves a $2 million payment to settle a dispute with another lover.
Another stems from Christine Holman, a WiseTech director, who accused White of intimidation in October 2019. Additionally, a recent allegation surfaced from a former employee who now works for one of White's private companies.WiseTech chairman Richard Dammery attempted to draw a line under the saga by offering White a full-time consultancy deal worth $1 million per year and commissioning Herbert Smith Freehills and Seyfarth Shaw to investigate the allegations. However, since then, two women have made serious complaints through their lawyers, alleging inappropriate conduct by White. Due to their former roles as an employee and a contractor to the logistics company, the complaints have been sent to both White and WiseTech’s board. A third woman, a former WiseTech employee who took up a position at one of White’s private companies, has also made a serious complaint through her lawyers to White directly. White is represented by Clayton Utz. A spokeswoman for WiseTech confirmed the board was considering the two complaints that had been made directly to the company. The first concerns allegations of inappropriate conduct by White and his wife Zena Nasser, including messages sent to the alleged victim’s work email. The second concerns allegations of inappropriate behaviour by White towards a contractor. The spokeswoman said the “complaint has been brought to the board’s attention”. She said the company was unaware of the third complaint that has been made to White directly.This masthead has decided not to detail the complaints because they are not proven and not yet part of formal legal proceedings. There is no suggestion that White or Nasser have behaved inappropriately, only that the allegations were made. Asked how many women had made complaints about his behaviour, White said he had been the subject of attempts to extract money from him. “I started building WiseTech over 30 years ago in the basement of my home in south-west Sydney. I came from modest beginnings, worked hard every day to grow WiseTech, and over the past few years amassed vast wealth very quickly,” the businessman said in a lengthy statement. “It is fair to say I have, for much of my career, been surrounded by childhood friends and highly educated technology people that I could always trust. This led me to being open, trusting, generous and as a consequence, naive to how extreme wealth changes things. WiseTech Global’s founder Richard White said he would take on an advisory role at the software firm after resigning as chief executive last year.“I was certainly not prepared for the numerous attempts to extract money from me that I have received over the past five years from people from all walks of life (both male and female). I am now much more guarded, sceptical and prepared to defend myself against spurious claims.” It is the first time complaints about White’s conduct have been made directly to the company. Until now, inappropriate conduct allegations directed at White have been treated by the board as personal matters. The WiseTech spokeswoman said: “Given the board review is still active and ongoing, we don’t consider it appropriate to answer this question.” Most of his wealth is tied up in his 37.4 per cent stake in WiseTech, which is worth $16.5 billion. WiseTech chairman Richard Dammery offered Richrd White a full-time consultancy deal worth $1 million per year last October. On the afternoon of White’s resignation on October 24, WiseTech told investors that he would take a short period of leave before transitioning “into a new role with the company that he founded and has led for 30 years”. “When Mr White returns from leave, he will commence a new full-time, long-term consulting role, focused on product and business development,” the statement said. White was given the title of founder and founding CEO and was required to report directly to the board. In November, the board said it was “committed to continuing to evolve its governance processes, with the advice and support of and Seyfarth Shaw. This will focus in particular on governing the new consulting arrangement with Mr White and supporting interim CEO Andrew Cartledge.” Dammery told investors on the same day that the company would not lose White’s talents. “Given our collaborative and mature team, the board is confident that Richard, a new CEO and the team will continue to work together to ensure that the company realises its full potential,” he said
WISE TECH GLOBAL RICHARD WHITE CONSULTANCY AGREEMENT ALLEGATIONS OF INAPPROPRIATE CONDUCT BOARD INVESTIGATION GOVERNANCE
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