The private email revealing Richard White’s battle to control sex scandal fallout

WiseTech Global founder Richard White wrote to a federal politician and prominent business leader in an attempt to contain the damage from a widening sex scandal and keep a high-profile speaking engagement.

The email to Liberal senator Andrew Bragg and former Business Council of Australia president Tony Shepherd was sent on October 5 last year, just days after this masthead reported on the billionaire’s court battle with a Sydney beauty entrepreneur over a $92,000 furniture bill.

White was scheduled to give the 2024 Shepherd Oration and wrote to Bragg and Shepherd as he claimed he wanted “to dispel some of the lurid reporting and factually misleading claims in the press”, according to a two-page email obtained by this masthead.

White apologised to Bragg and Shepherd for the long email but said while he couldn’t comment publicly on the court proceedings involving Linda Rogan, he wanted to brief them on a strictly confidential basis.

“I can, however, privately to you both, refute the storyline provided in the various district and local court proceedings and the commentary, arising from the Federal Court bankruptcy proceeding against her, and, almost certainly, from Ms Rogan backgrounding the press and creating a vast set of fictions and half-truths,” he wrote.

White said he knew and “collaborated” with Rogan for just three months and “I was not ‘in love with’ nor did I have a romantic relationship with her”.

Just three days after he sent the email, it was revealed that in her claim, Rogan alleged White expected her to have sex with him in return for his investment in her business.

“I travelled to New York at the request of Richard. Richard arranged my flights. When I arrived at the Park Lane Hotel to check in, I was informed that only one suite had been arranged,” she wrote in an affidavit.

“I realised that Richard expected me to enter into a sexual relationship with him to fulfil the promise he would invest in my business. So I stayed with Richard in his suite and our relationship became sexual.”

White allegedly purchased a Vaucluse mansion for Rogan to live in. She alleged she was evicted by his lawyer after Zena Nasser, who married White in secret last year, discovered the relationship.

In the email to Bragg and Shepherd, White wrote: “Zena Nasser, a real estate lawyer who was retained by me, took over the control of the property from the existing directors (who were not aware of the issues above) and we decided to sell the property at a loss (probably at actual fair market value).

“I walked away from the loss and terminated all contact with Ms Rogan. She made a number of attempts to extract money saying that unless I paid her she would hurt my reputation. I ignore [sic] this and took the loss.”

White paid Rogan a multimillion-dollar settlement to end the matter out of court by the end of October last year.

In his email to Bragg and Shepherd, he wrote: “Some have suggested, given the personal brand damage that is being inflicted on me that I should ‘pay her out’ and get a non-disclosure/non-disparagement agreement in place. A) If I was to pay her out, I would be seen to be guilty or conceding to the salacious behaviours she is alleging and B) She has not honoured the non-disclosure undertakings she made initially and seems delighted to reimagine the facts in her favour.”

White finished his email by noting he and Nasser had married and had a new baby daughter. He included a picture of the child. The Shepherd Oration was cancelled. Bragg and Shepherd declined to comment.

White, via his lawyers, referred to his statement from October 2024 when he settled the court fight with Rogan.

“Mr White and Ms Rogan have settled the Federal Court proceeding which relates to a commercial dispute. Ms Rogan has withdrawn all her allegations, and the parties are not pursuing any further court action,” White’s lawyers said at the time.

“Given this was a personal matter, Mr White has settled to avoid any distraction from his primary focus which is on implementing WiseTech’s growth strategy and continuing to create value for its shareholders and customers.”

White was forced to resign as chief executive and from the board of WiseTech in October after a joint investigation by The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and Australian Financial Review revealed a $2 million settlement with a former lover and allegations of bullying and intimidation by a former director. He returned as executive chairman in February after the abrupt departure of four independent directors, who cited intractable differences with the rest of the board.

WiseTech will have its annual general meeting on Friday with scandals still hanging over the billionaire and the company. Last month, WiseTech’s headquarters were raided as part of an investigation by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission into potential insider trading by White and three other employees.

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