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Scott Farquhar

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Scott Farquhar
Farquhar in 2018
BornDecember 1979 (age 44)
NationalityAustralian
EducationJames Ruse Agricultural High School
Alma materUniversity of New South Wales
Known forCo-founding Atlassian
Board member ofAtlassian
SpouseKim Jackson
Children3

Scott Farquhar (born December 1979) is an Australian businessman who is the co-founder and the former co-chief executive officer of software company Atlassian. Farquhar often carries the epithet of accidental billionaire after he and his business partner Mike Cannon-Brookes founded Atlassian with the aim to replicate the A$48,500 graduate starting salary typical at corporations without having to work for someone else.[1][2] Farquhar and Cannon-Brookes were Australia’s first technology billionaires.[3]

Early life

[edit]

Farquhar was born in December 1979.[4] He attended James Ruse Agricultural High School and Castle Hill Primary School[5][6] and graduated from the University of New South Wales, with a Bachelor of Science (BIT).[7][8]

Farquhar developed an early interest in computers and his dad purchased an old computer for him to play games on, however it couldn’t run Microsoft DOS, so Farquhar spent a year trying to get it to work.[9]

Career

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In 2001, Mike Cannon-Brookes sent an email to his University of New South Wales classmates asking if any of them was interested in helping him launch a tech startup after graduation,[10] and Farquhar was the only one who responded. They founded Atlassian in 2002.[11][12][13] They bootstrapped the company for several years, financing the startup with a $10,000 credit card debt.[14]

Their first major Atlassian product was Jira, an issue- and project-tracking software.[15] They decided to forgo the expense of hiring sales people, and instead spent their time and money on building a good product and selling it at a more affordable price via the Atlassian website.[15] As of 2016, the company still did not have a traditional sales force, investing instead in research and development.[16]

In 2005, they opened an office in New York, where most of their clients were.[15] Later in 2005 they moved the U.S. office to San Francisco,[17] which had a much larger pool of relevant technical talent.[15]

Farquhar and Cannon-Brookes were recognised for their achievements with Ernst & Young's 2006 Australian Entrepreneur of the Year.[18]

Their first external funding for Atlassian was a $US60 million round from Accel in 2010.[19]

In 2014, they redomiciled the company to the UK, in advance of an IPO.[20]

On 10 December 2015, Atlassian made its initial public offering (IPO) on the NASDAQ stock exchange,[21] putting the market capitalization of Atlassian at $4.37 billion.[22] The IPO made Farquhar and Cannon-Brookes Australia's first tech startup billionaires and household names in Australia.[12][23][24]

In 2022, Farquhar and Cannon-Brookes redomiciled Atlassian to the United States.[20]

On 26 April 2024, Farquhar announced that he would resign as joint CEO of Atlassian at the end of August to focus on family time, philanthropy, and furthering the global technology industry.[25] He remains on the board and as a special adviser.[26]

Other activities

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Farquhar is a significant investor in tech startups through a privately held investment fund, Skip Capital.[27][28] The fund had a stake in several Australian tech unicorns, including Canva and Airwallex, and overseas firms, such as Figma and 1Password.[28][29][30]

Farquhar has mentored through the Australian Businesswomen's Network and gives guest lectures on entrepreneurship to MBA students and undergraduates at the University of New South Wales, his alma mater.[1][5]

Farquhar is a member of Technology Council of Australia.[31]

In 2014 Farquhar co-founded Pledge 1%, a movement that encourages companies to dedicate 1% of equity, 1% of employee time, 1% of product and 1% of profit to charity.[32]

Personal life

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Farquhar is married to Kim Jackson and they have three sons.[33][34] In 2017 Farquhar purchased from the Fairfax family its former ancestral Sydney harbourside home, Elaine, for approximately A$75 million. This was subsequently sold on 4 October 2024 for A$130 million.Real estate 130m Sale of Scott Farquhar residence.

The Point Piper home set on 6,986 square metres (75,200 sq ft) had been in the ownership of the Fairfax family since 1891 and was vacant for nearly twenty years prior to its purchase by Farquhar.[35][36] In 2020 it was reported that Farquhar plans a partial knock-down of unsympathetic renovations to Elaine, and rebuild a A$30 million contemporary home.[37] In 2018 Cannon-Brookes bought the house next door, Fairwater, Australia's most expensive house at approximately A$100 million.[38]In April 2022 Farquhar saved a man's life in Las Vegas.[39] I

In 2018, Farquhar spoke out against the Australian Government's renaming of the 457 visas, saying the move damages Australia's reputation as a place that people want to come to work.[40]

Net worth

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Alongside his business partner, Cannon-Brookes, Farquhar debuted on the 2007 BRW Young Rich list of the richest Australians aged 40 and under, and on the BRW Rich 200 in 2013 with an estimated net worth of A$250 million. In 2016, his net worth was estimated by Forbes on the list of Australia's 50 Richest people as US$1.75 billion;[41][42] by BRW Rich 200 as A$2.00 billion;[43] and by the Sunday Times Rich List as £906 million.[44] As of 2019, Farquhar was ranked fifth in the Forbes list of Australia's 50 Richest people with a net worth of US$6.40 billion.[45] He was ranked seventh on the Financial Review 2023 Rich List with a net worth of A$18.16 billion.[46]

Year Financial Review
Rich List 		Forbes
Australia's 50 Richest 		Sunday Times
Rich List
Rank Net worth (A$) Rank Net worth (US$) Rank Net worth (£)
2013[47][48] 190 Increase $0.25 billion Increase n/a not listed
2014[49][50] 35 Increase $1.07 billion Increase n/a not listed
2015[51][41] 42 Increase $1.14 billion Increase 25 Increase $1.10 billion Increase
2016[43][41][44] 18 Increase $2.00 billion Increase 15 Increase $1.75 billion Increase £906 million Increase
2017[52][53] 18 Steady $2.51 billion Increase 10 Increase $3.40 billion Increase
2018[54] 11 Increase $5.16 billion Increase 5 Increase
2019[55][45] 5 Increase $9.75 billion Increase 5 Steady $6.40 billion Increase
2020[56] 6 Decrease $16.69 billion Increase
2021[57][58] 5 Increase $20.00 billion Increase $13.70 billion Increase
2022 4 Increase $26.40 billion Increase
2023[46] 7 Decrease $18.16 billion Decrease
Legend
Icon Description
Steady Has not changed from the previous year
Increase Has increased from the previous year
Decrease Has decreased from the previous year

References

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  1. ^ a b Fitzsimmons, Caitlin (12 April 2014). "Accidental billionaires: why Atlassian's Mike Cannon-Brookes and Scott Farquhar are so admired in the start-up industry". Financial Review. Australian. Retrieved 9 June 2016.
  2. ^ Kitney, Damon (27 February 2016). "The Cannon-Brookes: balancing life as accidental billionaires". The Australian. Retrieved 9 June 2016.
  3. ^ Bowles, Nellie (13 February 2019). "The Strange Experience of Being Australia's First Tech Billionaires". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 13 February 2019.
  4. ^ "Atlassian Corporation PLC - Officers". Retrieved 30 May 2016.
  5. ^ a b Fitzsimmons, Caitlin (25 July 2014). "How Atlassian's Scott Farquhar and Mike Cannon-Brookes became software titans". Retrieved 30 May 2016 – via The Age.
  6. ^ Baker, Jordan (18 December 2020). "25 years at the top of the HSC: What makes James Ruse special". The Sydney Morning Herald.
  7. ^ "#1275 Scott Farquhar". Forbes. 2016. Retrieved 9 June 2016.
  8. ^ Atlassian. "People - Atlassian". Retrieved 30 May 2016.
  9. ^ Fitzsimmons, Caitlin (24 October 2023). "How Atlassian's Scott Farquhar and Mike Cannon-Brookes became software titans". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 6 November 2018.
  10. ^ "Atlassian: Mike Cannon-Brookes and Scott Farquhar". Retrieved 24 March 2024.
  11. ^ "Atlassian Shareholder Letter Q2 FY19" (PDF). Atlassian. 17 January 2019. Retrieved 19 January 2023.
  12. ^ a b Moses, Asher (15 July 2010). "From Uni dropouts to software magnates". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 4 December 2013.
  13. ^ Asher, Moses (14 July 2010). "From Uni dropouts to software magnates". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 14 December 2012. Retrieved 15 May 2013.
  14. ^ Mckenzie, Hamish. "Hard yakka: Why Atlassian's founders are the pride of Australia's startup world". PandoDaily. Archived from the original on 17 May 2013. Retrieved 15 May 2013.
  15. ^ a b c d Powell, Rose (10 August 2015). "Startup War Story: Atlassian ignored bad advice, avoided sales staff and grew fast". Australian Financial Review. Retrieved 4 April 2024.
  16. ^ McDuling, John (8 August 2016). "The secret to Atlassian's success". Australian Financial Review. Retrieved 4 April 2024.
  17. ^ McGahan, Donna (10 March 2009). "Atlassian Support – The Legend Continues". Atlassian.com. Retrieved 5 April 2024.
  18. ^ "The 2006 Australian Entrepreneur Of The Year". Ernst & Young. Archived from the original on 31 December 2006. Retrieved 29 March 2024.
  19. ^ Yolanda Redrup, Yolanda Redrup (6 May 2021). "Atlassian's Scott Farquhar tells founders not to bootstrap". Australian Financial Review. Retrieved 5 April 2024.
  20. ^ a b Conchie, Charlie (10 July 2022). "Software giant Atlassian leaves UK in setback for the City's tech hopes". City A.M. Retrieved 13 April 2024.
  21. ^ Primack, Dan. "And the Price of the Last Big Tech IPO of 2015 Is..." Archived from the original on 11 December 2015.
  22. ^ "And the Price of the Last Big Tech IPO of 2015 Is..." Fortune. Retrieved 17 December 2018.
  23. ^ Finley, Klint. "Atlassian Challenges GitHub to a Fork Fight". Wired. Archived from the original on 22 May 2013. Retrieved 15 May 2013.
  24. ^ Bowles, Nellie (13 February 2019). "The Strange Experience of Being Australia's First Tech Billionaires". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 18 September 2020.
  25. ^ Barrett, Jonathan (26 April 2024). "Scott Farquhar to resign as joint CEO of Atlassian". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 26 April 2024.
  26. ^ Bennett, Tess (1 September 2024). "Farquhar's Atlassian era passes without a grand farewell". Australian Financial Review. Archived from the original on 1 September 2024.
  27. ^ "Venture capital funding plunges almost 75pc in a year". Australian Financial Review. 7 October 2022. Retrieved 8 October 2022.
  28. ^ a b Stensholt, John (16 August 2021). "Atlassian billionaire Scott Farquhar helping make unicorns as Aussie tech booms". The Australian. Retrieved 8 October 2022.
  29. ^ Waters, Cara (14 February 2021). "Skip Capital shifts focus to next-generation infrastructure". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 8 October 2022.
  30. ^ "Venture Capital". Skip Capital. Retrieved 18 August 2024.
  31. ^ "Tech Council – Meet Our Board". Retrieved 13 January 2024.
  32. ^ "Why Atlassian's Scott Farquhar wants corporates to shape up". Reuters. 5 February 2021.
  33. ^ Fitzsimmons, Caitlin (25 July 2014). "The untold story of the rise of Atlassian duo Scott Farquhar and Mike Cannon-Brookes". AFR Weekend. Australia. Retrieved 9 June 2016.
  34. ^ Chancellor, Jonathan (29 April 2017). "37-year-old Scott Farquhar pays more than $70 million for derelict Fairfax mansion Elaine". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 5 May 2017.
  35. ^ Tan, Su-Lin (30 April 2017). "Fairfax family sold Elaine for circa $75m with a sentimental discount". The Australian Financial Review. Retrieved 5 May 2017.
  36. ^ Macken, Lucy (29 April 2017). "Point Piper estate Elaine sold for more than $70 million, sets national price record". Domain. Retrieved 5 May 2017.
  37. ^ Macken, Lucy (31 July 2020). "Point Piper's Elaine mansion set for partial knock-down and $30m contemporary rebuild". Domain. Retrieved 31 July 2020.
  38. ^ "Australia's most expensive house sells for $100m". OneRoof. NZME Publishing Limited. 28 September 2018. Retrieved 29 September 2018.
  39. ^ Novet, Jordan (30 June 2022). "Atlassian billionaire co-CEO Scott Farquhar saved a man's life at a Las Vegas nightclub in April". CNBC. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
  40. ^ "Atlassian boss Scott Farquhar warns visa rule changes risk stunting local tech growth". The Australian Financial Review. 2 November 2017. Retrieved 28 September 2018.
  41. ^ a b c "2015 Australia's 50 Richest". Forbes Asia. March 2015. Retrieved 10 June 2015.
  42. ^ Richards, Ronelle (28 January 2016). "Atlassian co-founders Mike Cannon-Brookes and Scott Farquhar are the youngest Australians on Forbes Rich List while Gina Rinehart loses top spot". SmartCompany. Retrieved 9 June 2016.
  43. ^ a b Stensholt, John, ed. (29 May 2016). "BRW Rich 200 List 2016". Financial Review. Australia. Retrieved 9 June 2016.
  44. ^ a b "Rich List 2016". The Sunday Times. No. 44. 24 April 2016.
  45. ^ a b "2019 Australia's 50 Richest". Forbes Asia. January 2019. Retrieved 28 September 2019.
  46. ^ a b Bailey, Michael; Sprague, Julie-anne (26 May 2023). "The 200 richest people in Australia revealed". Australian Financial Review. Retrieved 6 June 2023.
  47. ^ Stensholt, John, ed. (May 2013). "BRW Rich 200 List 2013". Financial Review. Australia. Retrieved 9 June 2016.
  48. ^ "Gina Rinehart tops Forbes' Australian rich list". The Australian. AAP. 31 January 2013. Retrieved 9 June 2015.
  49. ^ Stensholt, John, ed. (27 June 2014). "BRW Rich 200 List 2014". Financial Review. Australia. Retrieved 9 June 2016.
  50. ^ Rollason, Adam (30 January 2014). "Rinehart on top, Palmer down on Forbes rich list". Financial Review. Australia. Retrieved 9 June 2015.
  51. ^ Stensholt, John, ed. (May 2015). "BRW Rich 200 List 2015". Financial Review. Australia. Retrieved 9 June 2016.
  52. ^ Stensholt, John, ed. (25 May 2017). "Financial Review Rich List 2017". Financial Review. Retrieved 7 October 2019.
  53. ^ "Australia's Richest 2017: Country's Wealthiest Continue Mining For Dollars". Forbes Asia. 1 November 2017. Retrieved 28 September 2019.
  54. ^ Stensholt, John, ed. (25 May 2018). "2018 AFR Rich List: Who are Australia's richest people?". The Australian Financial Review. Retrieved 26 May 2018.
  55. ^ Bailey, Michael (30 May 2019). "Australia's 200 richest people revealed". The Australian Financial Review. Nine Publishing. Retrieved 31 May 2019.
  56. ^ Bailey, Michael; Sprague, Julie-anne (30 October 2020). "The full list: Australia's wealthiest 200 revealed". The Australian Financial Review. Nine Publishing. Retrieved 31 October 2020.
  57. ^ Bailey, Michael; Sprague, Julie-anne (27 May 2021). "The 200 richest people in Australia revealed". Australian Financial Review. Retrieved 28 May 2021.
  58. ^ "Bloomberg Billionaires Index: Scott Farquhar". Bloomberg. Retrieved 25 May 2021.
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