Richard White: Wisetech billionaire entrepreneur settles court battle with alleged former lover Linda Rogan

Billionaire technology entrepreneur Richard White has settled a Federal Court battle with an alleged former lover after having won secrecy orders over parts of her case.

Less than a day after the other directors of his flagship Wisetech said they were probing matters linked to his private life, the company’s biggest shareholder and chief executive has struck a truce with beautician Linda Rogan.

Ms Rogan’s Federal Court application to kill a bankruptcy notice was set to test her claims about Mr White’s behaviour and her right to use secret documents allegedly containing evidence of misconduct.

The logistics technology group refused to discuss the Federal Court peace deal on Tuesday despite Mr White’s battle with Ms Rogan being at the centre of the scandal surrounding its chief executive.

“It is all personal stuff,” a spokeswoman for WiseTech said.

In the face of reports about Ms Rogan’s allegations and linking them to claims made in 2020 by another woman, WiseTech told the stock exchange on Monday it was “reviewing the full range of matters”.

WiseTech said its board was “actively seeking further information and taking external advice”.

“It is conscious of the potential impacts on the company and will carefully evaluate all relevant factors in the assessment,” it told the stock exchange.

Mr White is the founder of WiseTech and has a 34.4 per cent stake, valued on Tuesday at $12.5 billion.

Ms Rogan launched her Federal Court action on September 12 after Mr White hit with a demand that she pay up $90,000 or be hit with bankruptcy proceedings.

Federal Court papers reveal that Mr White won orders on October 2 suppressing parts of affidavits that were filed by Ms Rogan in support of her application.

The suppression order was based on Mr White’s claim the affidavit contained communications protected by legal privilege that were inadvertently disclosed to the alleged former lover.

Ms Rogan’s legal team told Justice Ian Jackman that they would likely challenge the privilege claims on the basis that the communications reflected misconduct.

Justice Jackman suppressed the contentious material until the day the matter went to trial in February because legal professional privilege was paramount to the “general need for open justice”.

Fighting the bankruptcy threat, Ms Rogan had claimed the alleged debt related to luxury furniture for an Sydney eastern suburbs apartment Mr White had bought for her to live in.

Ms Rogan’s legal team claimed the billionaire’s alleged lover was evicted when their relationship was discovered by his wife Zena Nasser, a high profile Sydney lawyer who reportedly married the billionaire during the Australian winter.

This week’s peace deal with Ms Rogan comes after Mr White reportedly struck a multi-million-settlement with another alleged former lover.

WiseTech claimed a board sub-committee examine that woman’s allegations four years ago but disregarded by the matter after receiving denials from Mr White.

After having plunged more than 13 per cent on Monday as details of Mr White’s battle with Ms Rogan broke, the stock recovered 4 per cent to finish trading Tuesday at $108.72.

Stock exchange disclosures show Mr White’s interests sold 1.39 million WiseTech shares between September 20 and October 17 at an average price of $132.82.