Scott Farquhar is cashing in $760 million of his Atlassian chips as cofounder Mike Cannon-Brookes doubles down

Atlassian cofounder Scott Farquhar plans to sell shares worth around $755 million in the software company to help fund his family’s philanthropy.

Meanwhile, his cofounder and CEO Mike Cannon-Brookes has spent US$2m (A$2.94m) this week adding to his stake.

Farquhar’s investment partnership adopted a plan on September 3 to sell up to 3,393,500 Class A shares.

At Thursday’s Nasdaq close of US$152.29, the full parcel would be worth circa US$516.8m (A759m). It represents around 7% of his Atlassian holding.

Atlassian told the US Securities and Exchange Commission the sales would be spread out until December 4, 2027 to limit their impact on the market. It described the plan as part of Farquhar’s long-term strategy for “individual asset diversification and liquidity”.

Farquhar told the AFR that the sales would support the climate and environment work of Skip Foundation, which he cofounded with his wife, Skip Capital’s Kim Jackson.

“I remain a board member and significant shareholder, with full confidence in the company’s future,” he said.

Both founders had cancelled earlier sale plans on February 6.

The new Cannon-Brookes plan allows his family trust to buy up to US$250 million of Atlassian stock, capped at 2,507,500 shares, by May 21, 2027. An SEC filing shows the trust bought 13,400 shares on November 11.

That purchase puts Cannon-Brookes ahead of Farquhar. As recently as September 30, the pair held identical stakes of 47.3 million shares apiece. Most were Class B shares, carrying 10 votes each, giving each founder 42.84% of the vote, retain majority control together.

Farquhar stepped down as co-CEO in August 2024, leaving Cannon-Brookes to run the business they started in Sydney in 2002. He stayed on the board and took a special adviser role. At the time, he said he wanted more time with his young family and to mentor other tech CEOs.

In March 2025, he succeeded Robyn Denholm as chair of the Tech Council of Australia. Two months later he became chair of Pledge 1%, the movement he helped start to encourage tech companies to give 1% of their equity, profits, products or staff time to charity.