Here’s why Rich Lister WiseTech boss Richard White is in the headlines, and how the A$30bn+ cargo software giant may be affected

WiseTech boss Richard White has been viewed as a key reason for his company’s success over its 30-year history and 8-year tenure on the ASX.

Reintroduction to WiseTech

WiseTech’s main product is CargoWise One, a Cloud-based end-to-end logistics execution platform that freight forwarders and other logistics companies can use to manage their businesses. The product is sold in a subscription model and is customisable to meet customer needs. It also has the Xtrade messaging solution, that lets suppliers and customers share information as well as transport management solutions for truckload shippers.

The company was founded in 1994 and operated privately for over two decades before its listing. Richard White has been there all the while and is still one of the largest shareholders – in fact, the largest. WiseTech is truly a global company with less than a third of its revenues coming from Australia and its 17,000 customers hailing from 150 countries. These include all of the Top 5 Global Freight Forwarders and 45 of the Top 50 Global Third-Party Logistics Providers (3PLs).

Why WiseTech boss Richard White is in the headlines

A Fairfax investigation alleged a former partner of White made serious allegations against him, and he paid millions of dollars to her to settle the matter. There had also been allegations that he approached female entrepreneurs on social media with offers of professional support that could later shift into crude or suggestive language.

What’s more is that White has long been selling shares, $240m in 2021 and over $100m in the month of October 2024. There’s no suggestion he was aware of inside information, but having long told investors it was a lack of liquidity, at least some of the recent sales have been partially paid to his former wife Barbara Mason. There were also concerns about former chief growth officer Gail Williamson being paid $2.7m (double White’s salary) without investors’ knowledge.

WiseTech shares fell 15% on Monday, in a move wiping $2b off White’s fortune.

WiseTech (ASX:WTC) share price chart, log scale (Source: TradingView)

So what may happen?

While White and his former wife have not commented, WiseTech has commented. ‘The Board of WiseTech Global notes further media coverage today regarding Chief Executive Officer & Executive Director, Richard White, including an historical claim,’ it said. ‘The Board is currently reviewing the full range of matters raised in today’s media reports and is actively seeking further information and taking external advice”.

‘The Board will continue to meet regularly to consider and monitor the situation, and keep the market updated in line with its continuous disclosure obligations. It is conscious of the potential impacts on the Company and will carefully evaluate all relevant factors in its assessment’. Some board members have leaked their two cents to the media about some of these matters, adding fuel to the fire.

Is this a buying opportunity?

Only time will tell what will come from it, but investors shouldn’t get their hopes too high for White to depart. He’s the founder of the company with a 30%+ stake, not a career CEO with a huge salary, performance rights and options. White quitting of his own accord is somewhat more realistic, but this prospect is arguably not much of a possibility in its own right.

Even then, that may take some time and may take more than a one-day share price decline. Arguably a longer-term decline over a few weeks of months may hurt, or perhaps one or two institutional shareholders selling out, especially if such shareholders publicly commented and attributed the sale to these matters. But the biggest catalyst would be the loss of customers, again especially if they commented publicly.

Whether individual investors chose to sell out because of these allegations is their call. This could be the chance to buy a good business at a cheaper price (as it was so with Medibank when it was cyberhacked), or the risk of catching a falling knife (as it was with Star Entertainment).

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