Former Liberal candidate for Curtin Tom White has revealed his first career move post-election defeat, taking a role at a Silicon Valley air taxi company.
Former Liberal candidate for Curtin Tom White has revealed his first career move post-election defeat, taking a leadership role at a Silicon Valley air taxi company.
Mr White has been appointed Asia Pacific general manager of New York Stock Exchange-listed Archer, a company designing and developing electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft (eVTOL) for use in urban air mobility networks.
It comes four months after Mr White suffered election defeat in the traditionally blue ribbon seat of Curtin to Teal Independent Kate Chaney.
Mr White received 40.28 per cent of the first preference count versus Ms Chaney's 32.23 per cent; but lost after preferences, taking 46.73 per cent of the two candidate preferred vote.
That represented a further 1.95 per cent swing Ms Chaney's way on her 2022 election win.
His new role comes despite Archer having very little footprint in the Asia Pacific, signalling there maybe some movement on the horizon.
The company signed a strategic agreement with Indonesian firm PT IKN to introduce its aircraft to the country in June — its first move in the region, and only the third country outside of the US the company has engaged with.
The firm in June raised $US850 million through a direct share offering, following President Donald Trump signing an executive order to set in motion an eVTOL integration pilot program aimed at fast-tracking deployment of advanced air mobility across the US.
Archer has also been named the official air taxi provider for the 2028 LA Olympics and Paralympics, and will use its Midnight eVTOL aircraft, pictured, to transport VIPs, fans and staff.
They are considered among the leaders of the nascent eVTOL industry, having signed a $148 million deal with the US airforce's AFWERX program, designed to assess the potential of VTOL technologies in a defence context.
"I'm excited to share that I'm joining Archer as the GM of Asia-Pacific," Mr White said on LinkedIn.
"Archer's mission (is) to unlock the skies by designing and developing a fully electric vertical take off and landing aircraft called Midnight.
"My personal mission is to help the business establish and grow its presence across the APAC region, adding a new dimension to urban mobility in some of the world's largest cities in the process."
It's not Mr White's first tilt at an Asia Pacific leadership role within a global tech company, having helmed Uber in Japan for three years between 2018 and 2021.
That followed his role as Uber general manager for South Australia and Western Australia from 2016.
In 2022, Mr White was named chief executive of UT — Uber's joint venture with SK Group and its second attempt to enter the Korean market — this time with a local partner to navigate regulatory challenges.
Uber has since bought out SK Group's share in UT and rebranded to Uber Taxi.
Shares in Archer (NYSE:ACHR) closed at $US9.55.
