No idea what the market will do @Magneto, but I'm guessing not too much. MIN's SP rose +6.97% on Thursday after they released their Governance-Update.PDF and then their SP was down -4.93% the following day (Friday) while BHP, RIO, FMG and PLS were all up or down by less than 1% on the day. WTC has similar shareholder support for their founder staying in the top job, especially from insto's and fundies who are still in the stock. And that support has so far remained solid regardless of RW's past behaviour and any subsequent allegations that have emerged since the first lot got aired last year. I don't expect that this latest court case is going to change that, unfortunately.

These sort of allegations tend to be like opening a can of worms, and they don't all wriggle up into view immediately, some take a while, but as more people come forward with similar allegations, even more people will be emboldened to follow suit. While noting that these remain unproven allegations at this stage, it's still more smoke, and while Chris Ellison and Richard White might appear to be flame-proof, it takes management and Board focus away from running the company while these matters are investigated and dealt with as required. And that's the best case scenario. Worst case is that the allegations are proven in time to be true and whatever results from that, and that these are just the tip of the iceberg.

Anyway, I'm out of both MIN and WTC, as I've already stated, so I watch with interest, but not with any money at risk.

WiseTech founder accused of helping employee for sexual favours

Kate McClymont and Max Mason

Saturday Feb 15, 2025 – 5.00am

Billionaire WiseTech Global founder Richard White is alleged to have provided a female employee with financial support and helped with her visa in return for an ongoing sexual relationship, according to explosive documents filed with the Federal Court this week.

Caroline Heidemann, a Brazilian woman on a temporary visa, has alleged in court documents that Mr White “made it clear that financial assistance was contingent upon” her “engaging in a personal and sexual relationship with him”.

Caroline Heidemann, a former WiseTech employee, is suing Richard White.  

Ms Heidemann, who worked for 15 months as a “general hand” at the ASX-listed logistics company WiseTech, claimed that Mr White “cultivated a personal relationship … presenting himself as a mentor and benefactor”.

After she was made redundant due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Mr White is then alleged to have employed her at his private company RealWise Management but paid her no wages or superannuation.

Instead, he supported her financially, paid for her English lessons and rented her an apartment in Mascot, south of Sydney’s CBD.

Ms Heidemann claims that Mr White’s conduct “was calculated and premeditated” and that he subjected her to “degrading treatment” by attaching her financial security and immigration status to “compliance with his personal and sexual demands”.

During this period at RealWise, Mr White sponsored her to secure a temporary visa as a “business consultant”, which restricted her employment to working at his business. This “further entrenched her dependency upon him,” her statement alleges.

Ms Heidemann also alleged that Mr White had assisted her under the guise that she would develop a Latin America strategy for anti-money laundering software business KYCKR.

In his statement, Mr White said, “At no point was Ms Heidemann offered an employment contract with RealWise nor was she ever paid a salary. She did not at any stage undertake formal or informal work for either Mr White or RealWise.”

Sources at Realwise confirmed that Ms Heidemann “never provided any work” and “never attended a meeting”.

In his statement, Mr White said that after Ms Heidemann’s divorce in mid-2021, “her ex-husband withdrew her right to be a resident in Australia and she applied for a temporary student visa whilst she studied to learn English”.

Richard White and his wife, Zena Nasser, who is alleged to have threatened Caroline Heidemann with deportation.  Facebook

He said that at this time, he and Ms Heidemann “were in a consensual personal relationship” and that he was providing financial support to her. He said their personal relationship ended mid-last year.

Mr White has continued to provide financial support to Ms Heidemann funding her living and other expenses, according to sources close to him. They noted that since the personal relationship commenced, Mr White had provided more than $500,000 in financial support to Ms Heidemann.

Zena Nasser, whom Mr White married in Texas in July 2024, is also being sued by Ms Heidemann in the employment claim. Ms Nasser is alleged to have threatened Ms Heidemann with deportation after she found out about the relationship with Mr White.

Ms Heidemann has alleged that throughout 2023 and 2024, she repeatedly pressed Mr White about her visa, her employment status and unpaid wages, which she said he “largely ignored”.

According to Ms Heidemann’s statement, Ms Nasser sent “hostile and threatening messages” instructing her “to stop demanding financial support” and to leave the country. She said Ms Nasser’s messages “escalated”, and that she threatened to report Ms Heidemann and her “sham visa” to immigration authorities.

Ms Heidemann, who is suing Mr White, Ms Nasser and RealWise, is alleging they “engaged in serious contraventions” of the Fair Work Act.

The three respondents could face penalties exceeding $7.7 million, Ms Heidemann’s statement suggests.

This includes her claim for $150,000 in unpaid wages, $500,000 for lost opportunities and a further $500,000 in exemplary damages.

The remaining $4.7 million is made up of penalties for alleged breaches of the Fair Work Act. The sensational allegations filed to the Federal Court add to the mounting pressure on the WiseTech board after these mastheads revealed that Mr White was facing new allegations of inappropriate conduct brought by an employee and a supplier of WiseTech.

These two complaints are separate from those made by Ms Heidemann.

Last year, details of Mr White’s colourful private life were disclosed after he sued Linda Rogan, another former lover, over a $92,000 furniture bill. Ms Rogan, a wellness entrepreneur billed as a potential star of The Real Housewives of Sydney, said she bought the furniture at Mr White’s behest for a $13 million Vaucluse mansion he had purchased for her in late 2022.

Ms Rogan was kicked out of the house and cut off from Mr White after Ms Nasser allegedly discovered the relationship.

The proceedings between Mr White and Ms Rogan were discontinued in October last year after a confidential settlement was reached.

Ms Rogan had alleged in court documents that Mr White “expected” her to enter into a sexual relationship in 2022 in return for a promise to invest in another venture, Bionik Wellness, but the offer of financial backing did not materialise. Those claims were never tested in court.

Sources close to Mr White, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said Ms Heidemann had been urging him to invest millions in a business she was planning to start in Brazil. He declined to provide the financial backing she was seeking.

In 2021, Mr White entered a confidential settlement with another previous lover.

When Mr White stepped down as CEO last year, WiseTech chairman Richard Dammery attempted to ease investor concerns about losing the company’s founder by giving Mr White a full-time consultancy deal worth $1 million per year and commissioning Herbert Smith Freehills and Seyfarth Shaw to investigate the allegations.

WiseTech told investors in November that the law firms had cleared Mr White of serious wrongdoing in preliminary findings on five allegations.

However, since that time, more women have made serious complaints of inappropriate conduct through their lawyers against Mr White.

The billionaire is yet to sign the 10-year consultancy agreement announced in October when he resigned as chief executive of the logistics software company.

Mr White,70, is one of the richest people in Australia, according to estimates published by the Financial Review Rich List. Most of his wealth is tied up in his 37.4 per cent stake in WiseTech, which is worth $16.5 billion.

It would be hard to sideline the founder of a company when he doesn't want to be sidelined, especially when he owns 36.63% of the shares on issue and the next largest shareholder is ETF provider Vanguard with 5.02%.

Also I note the market hardly responded to this latest news - only selling down WTC by -$5.70 (-4.39%) today after the Wisetech Board responded to the media report this morning (Media-commentary.PDF); Today's closing share price for WTC of $124.20 is actually +3.35% above where they closed one week ago ($120.17 on Monday 3rd Feb). That's not much of a reaction compared to being sold down to an intra-day low of $100.02 and a closing SP of $104.65 in October on their worst day (the day the main news broke) and then down to under $100 close three days later. Market is like, ...yeah, seen that before, it was a buying opp last time, not going to sell out just to watch them rebound this time.

A little bit like Donald J Trump - nothing shocks anybody any more. He could literally do anything. The supreme court has given him the green light anyway. Of course, these remain unproven allegations (back to Mr White now, not Mr Trump, he's guilty as hell), but I did have the feeling that there would be more smoke, and possibly one or two fires behind it somewhere. Didn't pass the sleep-easy test for me, as I explained after I bought the dip in October and then got cold feet and sold out after only a week or two at a smaller profit than I would have made if I'd held them longer - but still happy to be out.

Not a happy place to work by the sound of it - not at C-suite and Board levels anyway - when the Founder and largest shareholder doesn't agree with the Board about what his role should be and where they should be listed, it's a recipe for trouble, especially when he owns $16.5 Billion (with a B) of the company's stock (AFR numbers used). I guess Richard feels the media is more CEO-friendly and billionaire-friendly over in the US and not like us petty tall-poppy-syndrome-obsessed small-timers over here.

Methinks the man doth cry too much. Clearly the market doesn't care any more. Just keep stalling and ignore the media and it'll all go away. It's working for Chris Ellison.

 I sold 50% on the news, went for a walk, then came back and sold the balance. For reference, I also sold 50% in RL when the last round of news broke and topped back up at October lows, so I’ve booked a decent gain.

Why?

As @Bear77 said—where there’s smoke....

• The allegations regarding RW’s behaviour are concerning and make me uneasy.
• RW appears to exert significant control over the company—does the board have effective oversight?
• What is the succession plan?
• WTC has grown too large to rely so heavily on one individual
• The suggestion to “move to the NDQ” feels like a throwaway reactive comment—does it have any substance?
• 
  

WTC is a great company that I’ve owned on and off for many years. RW presents well and tells a compelling story that compliments his tech expertise. Long-term investors have done very well under his vision. However, I’m stepping aside until there’s more clarity regarding his position and the company’s long-term plan. Corporate governance and culture are key criteria in my holdings.

Added to that I’m going skiing for 3 weeks and I’d prefer not to leave this unresolved issue hanging while I’m away. If I were staying around to monitor developments closely, I probably would have held onto 50% as per last time.

Personally, I feel relieved that I sold and will wait to see how things unfold.

@mikebrisy That's a fair take on the situation, I reckon.

At the same time, with fresh allegations in the pipeline, he could be under investigation for a while.

Also, why not communicate his plans clearly to share holders?

@Bear77 You are right: "It would be hard to sideline the founder of a company when he doesn't want to be sidelined..."

The AFR make it look to me, as if he's reading from the Trump play book, Ie: saying one thing and doing another.

Of course the article needs to be taken with a grain of salt.

More to come Im sure.

@slew the "move to the NDQ" line, seemed tenuous at best.

With unknown sources etc etc.

But if he's not moved into his role. The role he apparently invented, then people will be asking: why not?

And in the absence of decent communication, reasons will be found or manufactured.

I've tried to put myself in RW's position on this one. There are lots of stakeholders: his ego, people in his life, the Board, the Media/Puiblic, Shareholders.

I don't expect him to say or communicate anything more until the investigation is settled. And if I was him, I wouldn't want to sign the new contract until the investigation is settled, because if he does sign and the Board is equivocal on the outcome of the investigation, then it stirs up a whole new debate about "is the contract still right and valid" and "did the Board set its terms with knowledge of the full facts?" No thank you, I'd rather avoid all that.

So, the less said the better. Let the investigation run down all possible rabbit holes, and then see what the Board makes of it.

This has added a goverance-type risk to holding this business and, as a result, I now only hold 50% of my target allocation. My thesis is still intact, but there is a real unknown in how this plays out and so I have tempered my appetite for the long term upside of holding the business, because of that risk. But I don't think the risk is large enough to walk away altogether.

RW is in the driving seat here. He directly owns almost 40% of the company, and probably effectively controls or can influence over 50%.

And definitely, anything in the media on this needs to be taken with several grains of salt, given what we have seen last year.

Disc: Held in RL