WiseTech CEO settles bankruptcy case with ex-lover as scandal wipes billions from company

SYDNEY – Richard White, the Australian billionaire fighting allegations of inappropriate behavior with women, has reached a legal settlement with an alleged former lover he was chasing for bankruptcy.

The case was settled on Oct. 18 and a notice of stay was filed in the Federal Court of Australia on Oct. 21, the court’s website shows.

Mr White, the chief executive of WiseTech Global, had tried to push wellness entrepreneur Linda Rogan, with whom he is alleged to have had a sexual relationship, into bankruptcy, according to the Australian Financial Review.

Earlier this month, he filed to have the bankruptcy notice removed. In an affidavit, she alleged that Mr White expected her to have sex with him in exchange for an investment in his business.

Over the past three weeks, the trickle of revelations from the court battle has gripped Sydney’s business elite. The case was also largely left uncommented – publicly – by WiseTech’s board of directors.

That changed on October 21 when WiseTech’s board said it was reviewing “the full range of matters” raised in new media reports about separate matters related to Mr White’s alleged past misconduct. The company’s shares fell 15 percent, wiping almost $5 billion ($6.6 billion) off its valuation.

Mr. White, 70, who had amassed a personal fortune of $8.3 billion thanks to the growth of WiseTech, lost $1.4 billion of his wealth, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

“A founding CEO of a major Australian company is a public figure, front and center to the company’s name, brand and success,” said Helen Bird, a senior lecturer at Melbourne’s Swinburne Law School. “When the share price drops as a result of one of these types of news, it suggests that the company’s reputation has been affected.”

The Australian Council of Superannuation Investors, which represents some of the country’s largest superannuation funds, said the matter was of “major concern” to investors and called on WiseTech’s board to investigate and respond appropriately.

AC/DC

Mr White grew up in the middle-class Sydney suburb of Bexley dreaming of being a rock star, eventually leaving school to pursue the ambition. He soon became bitter.

“I played in a band for a few years, but I realized it was a very difficult industry to work in,” he told the Australian Investors Podcast. “You had a lot of fame and attention, but no money.”

He then started fixing guitars, and became so proficient that he even repaired AC/DC’s Angus Young’s guitars.

“It was very profitable,” he said on the podcast. “But I realized it was a service business that I couldn’t scale.”

In 1994, he and Maree Isaacs founded WiseTech, which is a key supplier of software that coordinates logistics and shipping worldwide. Twenty-two years later, the company was valued at A$1 billion (S$876,000) when it listed on the Australian Stock Exchange.

The following year it entered the S&P/ASX 200 and today employs 3,300 people in 37 countries. It claims most of the world’s largest logistics providers and global freight forwarders among its customers, including DHL, China’s Sinotrans, Japan’s Nippon Express and APL Logistics.

Mr. White is WiseTech’s largest shareholder, which makes the current situation facing the board particularly difficult.

“Recent reports have certainly cast a shadow over the company’s reputation,” said Megan Motto, CEO of the Governance Institute of Australia. “Markets are very sensitive to such news, especially when it comes to the personal conduct of a high-profile founder.” BLOOMBERG