WiseTech board quits as founder triumphs in power struggle; shares of Aussie firm plummet
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Australian-listed WiseTech is a key provider of the software that coordinates logistics and shipping across the world.
PHOTO: BLOOMBERG
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SYDNEY - WiseTech Global’s founder and largest shareholder Richard White appears to have triumphed in a high-level power dispute after almost every board member quit in a disagreement over the billionaire’s role at the company.
Four of WiseTech’s six directors, including chairman Richard Dammery, will leave on Feb 26, the company said on Feb 24.
The resignations follow “intractable differences in the board and differing views” around Mr White’s position at WiseTech.
Shares of the company dropped up to 18.6 per cent to A$99.10 in early trading on Feb 24 – the worst performer on the ASX 200 benchmark index.
The bombshell announcement, almost unheard of in corporate Australia, cements Mr White’s influence at the freight software company he founded and led for three decades.
Mr White was forced to step down as chief executive in October 2024 after a string of allegations of misconduct, sparking a board review of governance and behavioural standards, and putting his future in jeopardy.
Four months on, the board has disintegrated, and Mr White is back at the top of the business.
“For shareholders, there was tension between keeping talent and corporate governance issues,” said Mr Matthew Haupt, portfolio manager at Wilson Asset Management, who holds WiseTech shares. “Talent has won the day at the expense of corporate governance.”
In two days, when the four directors officially leave, Mr White will help present the company’s half-year results as “founder and founding CEO”, WiseTech said.
The other three departing directors are Ms Lisa Brock, Mr Michael Malone and Ms Fiona Pak-Poy.
Mr White is so closely associated with WiseTech’s value that cutting him loose would have risked a stock market rout.
He owns 37 per cent of the company, a stake worth about A$15 billion ($12.8 billion).
When he stood down in October 2024, WiseTech agreed to retain him on a 10-year contract as a consultant to soothe investor concerns that the company might lose its most valuable asset.
WiseTech is a key provider of the software that coordinates logistics and shipping across the world.
It claims the majority of the world’s biggest global logistics providers and freight forwarders among its clients, including DHL, China’s Sinotrans, Japan’s Nippon Express and APL Logistics.
Mr White has pulled off what in 2024 looked like an improbable victory.
According to local media reports, he paid millions of dollars to a former partner to settle allegations of inappropriate behaviour.
Mr White also had a years-long relationship with an employee before gifting her a A$7 million house in Melbourne, while a former board member had accused Mr White of intimidation and bullying, according to the Australian Financial Review.
The board’s preliminary findings into these allegations, released in November 2024, were that Mr White’s behaviour could not be characterised as bullying or intimidating.
It concluded that he “has a direct approach and from time to time is involved in robust and challenging discussions”.
The review described this process as “creative abrasion”.
Two fresh confidential complaints about Mr White, made by an employee and a supplier, compounded the pressure on WiseTech’s directors to take more substantive action. But Mr White has come out on top. BLOOMBERG
