“I’m here for the long haul.”
With those words, Richard White on Wednesday stamped his renewed authority over WiseTech Global Ltd. Following months of damaging revelations about his behavior.
The billionaire’s appointment as executive chairman of the Australian freight-software giant, four months after he quit as chief executive officer, caps a remarkable series of events that have whipsawed the shares at every turn.
White’s future looked fragile in October. Under siege after a string of media reports about his conduct and relationships, he stepped down as CEO and agreed to a role as an external consultant of the company he founded more than 30 years ago and grew into one of Australia’s biggest listed firms.
This month, yet more accusations against him surfaced, widening a board investigation and threatening to further destabilize the company. The drama reached its climax two days ago when almost every director resigned, citing “intractable differences” over White’s role.
In effect, White has used his 37% stake in the company to muscle his way back into control.
Now that White’s back at the helm, he’s downplaying the relevance of governance, and spearheading the most critical elements of any company. White is overseeing product development and growth, and leading the search for a permanent CEO. That makes him the primary authority on both executive succession and WiseTech’s future as a business.
“I am fully engaged,” White told analysts on a call less than an hour after his appointment was announced. He assured them of his “absolute commitment” to WiseTech.
WiseTech shares, which have soared and plunged on every twist and turn in the saga, climbed as much as 8.4% in early Sydney on Wednesday, a reflection of White’s importance to WiseTech in the eyes of investors.
The shares pared some of their initial gains to be up 2% at A$96.46 at 12:45 p.m. Local time, valuing the company at about A$32 billion ($20 billion).
On Wednesday’s widely anticipated conference call, most analysts focused on the granular details of WiseTech’s first-half results, which showed net income rose 38%. The tumultuous developments of the past few months were mostly ignored. The few who asked questions about the scandal and the board’s implosion received little from White, who was joined by interim CEO Andrew Cartledge and Caroline Pham, the interim chief financial officer.
One analyst asked if the board—or what’s left of it—would make its governance review public. Cartledge had nothing to add. Have any senior WiseTech managers quit during the upheaval, another asked. No, was the answer. How have customers reacted to the board’s collapse? Hardly at all, came the response.
Media weren’t allowed to ask questions.
Perhaps the most telling summary came from White himself. WiseTech’s customers around the world, he told analysts, care little about governance issues in Australia. They’re more worried about their own businesses and the value WiseTech can create for them, he said.
The allegations against White included claims that he’d paid millions of dollars to a former partner to settle allegations of inappropriate behavior, and that he’d had a relationship with an employee and gifted her a A$7 million house. A former board member accused White of intimidation and bullying, the Australian Financial Review said.
The board’s preliminary findings, released in November, cleared White of bullying or intimidation. It concluded that he “has a direct approach and from time to time is involved in robust and challenging discussions.”
White’s return to the top of WiseTech sends a message to investors about the company’s priorities.
“The potential danger for WiseTech shareholders was a potential loss of talent,” said Matthew Haupt, a portfolio manager at Wilson Asset Management in Sydney, who holds WiseTech shares. “What we got today was an implicit guarantee that personnel won’t be sacrificed for non work-related incidents.”
