Scott Farquhar
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Scott Farquhar | |
|---|---|
 Farquhar in 2018 | |
| Born | December 1979 (age 46) Parramatta, New South Wales, Australia |
| Education | James Ruse Agricultural High School |
| Alma mater | University of New South Wales |
| Known for | Co-founding Atlassian |
| Board member of | Atlassian |
| Spouse |
Kim Jackson (m. 2009) |
| Children | 3 |
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 $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]
As of December 2024[update], Farquhar had an estimated net worth of US$15.5 billion, according to Forbes.[4]
Farquhar was born in December 1979 in Parramatta, Sydney.[5][6] He attended Castle Hill Primary School and James Ruse Agricultural High School[7][8] and graduated from the University of New South Wales, with a Bachelor of Science (BIT).[9][10]
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.[11]
Career
In 2001, Mike Cannon-Brookes sent an email to his University of New South Wales classmates asking if any of them were interested in helping him launch a tech startup after graduation,[12] and Farquhar was the only one who responded. They founded Atlassian in 2002.[13][14][15] They bootstrapped the company for several years, financing the startup with a $10,000 credit card debt.[16]
Their first major Atlassian product was Jira, an issue- and project-tracking software.[17] 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.[17] As of 2016, the company still did not have a traditional sales force, investing instead in research and development.[18]
In 2005, they opened an office in New York, where most of their clients were.[17] Later in 2005 they moved the U.S. office to San Francisco,[19] which had a much larger pool of relevant technical talent.[17]
Farquhar and Cannon-Brookes were recognised with the award of the 2006 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award.[20]
Their first external funding for Atlassian was a $US60 million round from Accel in 2010.[21]
In 2014, they redomiciled the company to the UK, in advance of an IPO.[22]
On 10 December 2015, Atlassian made its initial public offering (IPO) on the Nasdaq stock exchange,[23] putting the market capitalization of Atlassian at $4.37 billion.[24] The IPO made Farquhar and Cannon-Brookes Australia's first tech startup billionaires and household names in Australia.[14][25][26]
In 2022, Farquhar and Cannon-Brookes redomiciled Atlassian to the United States.[22]
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.[27] He remains on the board and as a special adviser.[28] As of 2024[update], he owns 20 percent of Atlassian.[29]
