Scott Farquhar to step down as Atlassian co-CEO

Atlassian co-founder Scott Farquhar will step down as co-CEO after 23 years, leaving Mike Cannon-Brookes to lead the Australian software giant, in a surprise move announced at the company’s third-quarter results.

Farquhar, who said in a statement that he wanted to spend more time with his family, focus on philanthropy, and help the technology industry globally, will step down on August 31 and remain on Atlassian’s board.

Scott Farquhar, co-CEO and co-founder of Atlassian, will step down in August.

“While it’s a difficult decision to step away, I do so knowing Atlassian is exceptionally positioned to take hold of the massive opportunities at its feet,” he said.

“We have a strong leadership team, and great momentum around cloud, enterprise, and now, AI,” he said.

Atlassian, known for its workplace software Jira, Confluence and Trello, is a $79 billion company, has more than 300,000 customers globally and runs a fully geographically spread workforce, as it was one of the most aggressive companies to enact a remote-work policy during the pandemic.

The co-founders, who met at university, founded the business together in 2001. It’s now listed on the Nasdaq.

Co-founder Mike Cannon-Brookes (right) will become Atlassian’s sole CEO, while Farquhar will remain on the board.

“The contribution Scott has made at Atlassian is impossible to quantify,” said Cannon-Brookes.

“Atlassian would not be the company it is today without Scott. I am truly grateful to have had him by my side every day for the last 23 years.”

Farquhar and Cannon-Brookes each have an estimated fortune of more than $15 billion, and have each held on to about 20 per cent of the company they started more than 20 years ago.

Shares slipped 8 per cent in extended trading after closing at $US198.41 in New York. Atlassian is down 17 per cent this year.

“While the executive transition is a surprise, it should not impact the operations as the company is in strong footing,” said Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Sunil Rajgopal.

As part of its results, Atlassian announced $US1.2 billion ($1.84 billion) in revenue for the quarter, up 30 per cent year-over-year, driven by subscription revenue growth of 41 per cent year-over-year. It drove record free cash flow of $US555 million, up 59 per cent year-over-year.

Profit was 89 cents per share, beating the 62 cents projected by analysts. Still, the company added customers more slowly than anticipated.

with Bloomberg

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