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Scandal-haunted WiseTech (ASX:WTC) has failed to dramatically persuade investors on Wednesday with its news that Richard White isn’t going anywhere – to the humble tune of a +0.6% bump in shares.
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He’s still founder and executive chair, so there’s that. But he’s no longer CEO.
The newly minted Chief Innovation Officer (CIO) has, as part of a management update released midweek, created a new role. That role is for a Deputy Chief Innovation Officer – clearly, a report.
Perhaps White just wanted to still feel important without needing to be called a CEO following all of that pesky sex scandal stuff.
To remind, in October last year, it hit the mainstream press that White had been engaged in an affair in the capacity of his job in that he allegedly traded business advice for sex with two other women.
Or so are the allegations in the press that never led to a defamation case.
I wrote at the time right here in HotCopper’s coverage section that the share price was unlikely to suffer for long, and it didn’t. But it wouldn’t last.
In February, the company’s share price was hurt when a handful of directors walked out of the WiseTech board in disagreement with White staying on.
(An independent review in March also accused White of misleading his executives.)
I wrote the director walk-out would be more damaging for its share price, and so far, that’s true. Magnified by the devaluations we’ve seen following the great Wall Street shakeout of Q2 2025, and Wisetech’s shares are well below the $120+/sh values they commanded just two months ago.
Wisetech one-year returns are now down -4.01% – meaning that anyone holding shares for twelve months is now just shy of breaking even.
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If Richard White’s decision to remain firmly part of WiseTech is leading to any investor’s nerves, they might want to consider that his newly-minted role as CIO is a 10-year term. White will be paid $1M per year.
WTC last traded at $85.76/sh through Wednesday.
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