Atlassian co-founder Scott Farquhar steps down as CEO, will remain as special advisor

In a significant shift in its executive ranks, Atlassian has announced co-founder Scott Farquhar will step down as co-CEO. Mike Cannon-Brookes will now become the sole CEO of the $79 billion software unicorn.

This news was announced alongside the former Smart50 winner’s third-quarter results early on Friday morning. According to a note sent to Atlassian staff – and later published – by Farquhar, he is stepping down after 23 years to focus more on his family and philanthropic efforts.

Despite the departure, Farquhar will maintain an active role within the company. He will remain a board member and take on the role of ‘special advisor’. His last day as co-CEO will be August 31.

“I’m looking forward to spending some time with my young family, improving the world via philanthropy with Skip Foundation and Pledge 1%, investing with Skip Capital, as well as mentoring other tech CEOs,” Farquhar said.

“And while there is never a perfect time to make this change, I take comfort in my decision knowing Atlassian is so well placed for the future.”

SmartCompany understands that as a special advisor, Farquhar will be more involved in the business than a typical board member – acting as a soundboard and spending more time with the leadership team.

While traditionally Cannon-Brookes has headed up the engineering teams, with Farquhar focusing more on the go-to-market teams, the pair have often swapped in and out of those roles as needed. It is understood there will be no significant effect on those teams as a result of the departure.

Atlassian’s stock experienced an 8% drop in after-hours trading following the announcement. However, the company has shown strong financial performance, reporting a 30% increase in revenue to US$1.2 billion compared to Q3 2023. The company also reported subscription revenue was up 41% year-on-year.

Atlassian posted a net income of US$12.8 million this quarter. This marks a significant recovery compared to the net loss of US$209 million recorded in Q3 2023.

Looking ahead, the company projects its total revenue for the upcoming fourth quarter to be between US$1.12 billion and US$1.13 billion.

Farquhar and Cannon-Brookes met at university and founded Atlassian in 2002, before going on to list the tech company on the NASDAQ in 2015.

“We got to work on the heels of the dot com bust and unbeknownst to us, we were kickstarting the Australian tech industry,” Farquhar said.

“Twenty-three years later, we continue to innovate by leading the world as the largest company committed to remote work with Team Anywhere”.

“Today, rockets don’t launch into orbit without Atlassian’s software.”

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