Richard White, chief executive officer of WiseTech Global Ltd., during the Morgan Stanley Australia Summit in Sydney, Australia, on Wednesday, June 12, 2024. The Summit will continue through June 13. Photographer: Brent Lewin/Bloomberg
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Tycoon Richard White’s net worth took a $1.1 billion hit after the Australian securities regulator and the police raided his WiseTech Global’s Sydney office, sending shares of his company tumbling.
Officers of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission and the Australian Federal Police conducted the raid Monday with a search warrant for documents on alleged WiseTech share trading by White and three of the company’s employees during the period from late 2024 to early 2025, the company said in a statement to the stock exchange.
White’s net worth shrank $1.1 billion to $6.3 billion, according to Forbes real-time data. WiseTech’s shares slumped 16% to A$71.52 at the close of trading in Sydney. The stock has fallen about 47% since touching a record high of A$135.15 in September 2024.
“So far as WiseTech is aware, no charges have been laid against any person and there are no allegations against the company itself,” the Australian freight-software provider said, adding it will fully cooperate with any investigation.
White—the controlling shareholder of WiseTech which he started 31 years ago—returned as executive chairman in February after resigning four months earlier as CEO following a series of damaging media reports, including one that he paid millions of dollars to a former partner to settle allegations of inappropriate behavior.
His comeback was preceded by the resignation of former chairman Richard Dammery and three independent directors on “intractable differences” over White’s role as external consultant after he resigned in October 2024.