Beleaguered billionaire Richard White in massive stock sale as scandal destroys WiseTech’s value

However, people close to White who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly said the stock sale had been paid in part to his former wife, Barbara Mason. White recently remarried.

A spokeswoman for White said she was legally barred from answering questions about the matter. WiseTech’s board declined to comment for privacy reasons.

White has continually sold the WiseTech stock he held personally and through RealWise Holdings, an investment vehicle owned 92% by White and 8% by WiseTech co-founder Maree Isaacs, who remains on the company’s board.

Ed John, of the Australian Council of Superannuation Investors, said on Monday the allegations were a “major concern for investors”.

John said it was “critical that the board investigates these issues on behalf of all WiseTech shareholders and responds appropriately.”

Another influential advisory firm, Institutional Shareholder Services, also said it would consider the allegations before providing recommendations to its clients. “Private matters are private; The company’s affairs are not, and disclosure issues by the company surrounding its executives are obviously something we will look at,” said head of research Vas Kolesnikoff.

“The board needs to be careful here; if they failed to disclose company matters relevant to shareholders, they need to explain. The board needs to act in the interests of shareholders here and preserve shareholder value.”

White owned about 50 per cent of WiseTech when the company listed on the ASX in 2016.

Williamson’s role in the spotlight

Leaked director correspondence also revealed governance concerns over the founder’s decision to pay former growth chief Gail Williamson $2.7 million, double what she earned as CEO, without disclosing to investors .

In her role as an investor relations adviser, Williamson is understood to have traveled extensively with White on road shows domestically and internationally to promote the company to investors ahead of its public listing on the U.S. Stock Exchange. Australia in early 2016. Before becoming chief growth officer in 2017, Williamson spent two years as managing director of investor relations and corporate affairs.

Those familiar with Williamson’s role said she acted as a gatekeeper for those who wanted to speak with White, which included media, stock market analysts and institutional investors.

“Gail was the gatekeeper — he couldn’t meet with Richard without going through her,” said a person familiar with the company, who could not speak publicly for privacy reasons. “She was very close to Richard. It became a much higher role.”

Another described Williamson’s role “as all-encompassing.” The source claimed Williamson was “micromanaging” the billionaire’s life.

Her pay as chief growth officer surprised hiring executives, who estimated similar roles would pay as much as $1 million.

“My interactions with Ms. Williamson have always been purely business related,” White said Sunday.

The Herald, The Age i The Australian Financial Review They do not suggest that Williamson did not deserve her pay or that she was not qualified, only that the board raised this issue with White.

In 2019, White gave an interview to ABC’s Elysse Morgan about attacks on WiseTech by hedge fund JCapital. The interview was a wreck for White. During the interview, Williamson can be heard off-camera several times interrupting White to correct him.

WiseTech’s founder was defending the company against claims by JCapital that the technology group, which provides software to logistics companies globally, had made a series of “disastrous” acquisitions to maintain a facade of high growth and was failing correctly integrate the companies. White denied the allegations.

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Board under pressure to produce answers

WiseTech’s board is reviewing a multimillion-dollar payment to a woman in a sexual relationship with White who later made allegations of inappropriate behavior by him. The matter was settled with a multi-million dollar settlement in March 2021, with the woman agreeing to drop the allegations.

The board said White, 69, had provided the previous board with a legal statement denying the allegations, but that some board members became aware of the allegations only on Friday.

Michael Malone, director of WiseTech, said Monday that the board was reviewing the claims. “We would like some time to consider this and will respond through (chairman) Richard Dammery.”

Salty details about White’s private life entered the public domain last month. The WiseTech founder filed a bankruptcy notice against another former lover, Sydney wellness entrepreneur Linda Rogan, who applied to the Federal Court to have it struck out.

Billionaire’s Property Empire

Although Monday’s disastrous share price plunge wiped about $2 billion from White’s personal fortune, his real estate empire continues to grow in value.

Although White took a $2 million hit in February 2023 when he offloaded the “forever” Vaucluse home he had bought for Rogan six months earlier, his holdings are now worth more than $175 million.

This includes a Palm Beach trophy home he bought in 2022 for $27.5 million, warehouses in Alexandria, rural land near Nowra and the $32 million he spent on five of the 19 luxury apartments in Eliza, overlooking Hyde Park on Sydney’s Elizabeth Street.

Some of his acquisitions, including his December 2021 purchase of Eliza’s penthouse for $15.5 million, were through a company, Icarus Property Managers, led by two of White’s friends, including Tony Jex, the former drummer of a little-known band from the 70s called Jade. in which White was the guitarist. The other director, Reg Kennedy, lives in one of six townhouses inside White’s extraordinary compound in Bexley, which White spent $7 million on renovating.

White alternates between life in the Bexley compound and the city penthouse. In September 2023, Icarus sold the penthouse to White for $1.

The extent of White’s holdings was revealed on September 15, 2024, when White became the sole director and shareholder of a number of companies, including Icarus, previously run by his friends or former employees of WiseTech.

Three of those companies that White took control of had bought three different locations in Mascot for more than $85 million.

Another of the companies that White recently took over, Sentry Rock, had paid $12 million for a retreat on the Hawkesbury River.

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