The transactions cast fresh light on how the personal dealings of White, 69, overlap into his business world. As the founder of Australia’s largest listed technology company, White projected an image of a carefully considered entrepreneur who was focused on managing risk.
“I’ve spent time making sure, as much as possible, that I’m not taking risks,” he told the Financial Review in June.
However, White’s personal life became public following a recent legal battle with a former lover, Sydney wellness entrepreneur Linda Rogan, over a $90,000 furniture bill.
This masthead previously revealed White was in a long-term relationship with WiseTech employee Christine Kontos and gifted her a $7 million mansion in Melbourne.
The whisky room in the Melbourne mansion, which sold for nearly $7 million.
On Thursday, the mastheads revealed White, via a personal company, is bankrolling a property development in western Sydney which was formerly owned by his wife’s ex-husband, who fled to Dubai with corporate debts of $80 million and was a suspect in a firebombing investigation in the mid-2000s.
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White stood down as chief executive of WiseTech last month after he was accused of bullying and inappropriate conduct. White has denied the allegations. The company has hired Herbert Smith Freehills and Seyfarth Shaw to review the issues that were first raised by an investigation published by this masthead.
WiseTech said White would take a brief break before taking up a “full-time, long-term consulting role” where he will be paid the same $1 million annual salary that he received as chief executive.
WiseTech listed on the ASX in 2016. Only two current WiseTech directors, co-founder Maree Isaacs and Shearwater Capital founder Charles Gibbon, were on the board at the time that the allegations raised by the woman were considered. The new directors were told about the allegations only when the company received questions from the Herald, The Age and The Australian Financial Review.
A spokesperson for White said there was a short supply of 4K 40-inch monitors, and the woman in 2015 and the woman’s company were able to source them at the same price or below that of other suppliers. The monitors were received over a two-month period, the spokesperson said.
They said White’s only involvement in the transaction was approving the invoices, noting he did that for all computer suppliers at the time.
“Given the short supply of these type of monitors, a standard term of supply was the requirement for prompt payment. This is not unusual, particularly when there is short supply of a critical piece of equipment,” they said.
“Other computer equipment suppliers at the time also asked for and received prompt payment as a way of receiving the best price and earliest delivery.”
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