WANdisco has asked its former execs to hand repay over half a million pounds in bonuses after the value of the troubled tech firm collapsed.
The Sheffield-based software business has written to former chief executive David Richards and former finance chief Erik Miller demanding that they give back £647,000 that was handed to them prior to the discovery of fraud by a sales employee.
A WANdisco spokesperson said: “In line with shareholder sentiment, and as simply the right thing to do, the Board of WANdisco confirms that it has written to former executives of the Company requesting that bonuses paid for FY 2022 are returned.
“It is clear that the bonuses paid are significantly at odds with the realities the company has faced.”
It comes after tens of millions were wiped from the wealth of the founders of WANdisco after shares in the scandal-hit tech business plummeted 96% as its stock was re-admitted to trading for the first time in months.
The fortune of co-founder and former CEO David Richards, who once had a net worth of £38 million according to an Evening Standard analysis, has been all-but wiped out as his stake in the business is now worth just £920,000, while co-founder Yeturu Aahlad has seen his shares sink in value from £48 million to £1.2 million.
Earlier this year WANdisco had been eyeing a US listing of its shares, but in a shock announcement to the stock exchange in March, it tore up its guidance for 2022 and said an investigation was under way to identify its “true financial position” after sales booked by an employee appeared to have been inflated in what it called “significant, sophisticated and potentially fraudulent irregularities.”
The software firm later revealed that its bookings should have been $11.4 million rather than $127 million. The financial watchdog has since begun an investigation into the discrepancy.
The scandal led WANdisco to suspend its shares, with Richards Miller stepping down from the business.
At the time, WANdisco said the departures were not connected to the investigation.
