Here’s why Rich Lister WiseTech boss Richard White ‘stood down’, 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. But is it over now? Officially, he has stood down. But after a period of leave, he will return as a consultant for the same salary he was being paid before, $1m.

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 20% from Monday to Thursday, only to rebound on Friday after his ‘departure’ was announced.

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

So what eventuated?

Less than a week on, WiseTech ‘lost’ its CEO.

On Monday, WiseTech commented on these matters on Monday. ‘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 leaked their two cents to the media about some of these matters, adding fuel to the fire.

By Friday, the company told investors Richard White would stand-down as director and CEO. After a short period of leave, he would return as a consultant for the same $1m salary he was receiving before and on a 10-year term. CFO Andrew Cartledge, who planned to stand down at the end of CY25, would stand up to the role on an interim basis. The search for a new CFO is apparently underway already, whilst the search for a new CEO will commence soon.

Is this a buying opportunity?

Only time will tell what will come from it. It is strange that the departure of a CEO/Founder with a 30-year tenure would lead to a share price decline, but the fact that shares went in the other direction goes to show that investors may have felt his departure was an inevitability and they now have certainty of what is happening.

Even so, shares remain below their highs seen earlier in October. This could either 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).

It will all hinge on one thing: The ability of the company to transition to a new era without its founder having all control. Apple and Amazon have shown this can happen, but the different sides of the transition are different eras indeed.

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