White out
With news that Richard White will step aside as CEO of WiseTech, it seems as if we've found the line in the sand. But it doesn't mean that he's leaving the company he co-founded.
The late breaking news today that Richard White will step down as director and CEO of WiseTech was an apt reflection of the whole saga: vague and riddled with unusual optics.
Per the announcement, White is to be shuffled out of the top job and into a million-dollar-a-year consulting role for the next decade, where he will “concentrate fully on the product vision and business development initiatives for WiseTech”. It’s gardening leave on steroids.
WiseTech’s board had decided earlier in October that White’s legal stoush with Linda Rogan, with whom he was having an affair, was a “personal” matter that did not demand a governance position.
As the situation spiralled over the ensuing weeks, and the allegations against White became more salacious, that stance became increasingly untenable. By 21 October, the board was reviewing “the full range of matters” raised by an increasing avalanche of media reports.
