Scott Farquhar

Scott Farquhar
Born	Parramatta, Sydney, Australia
Occupation(s)	Entrepreneur, Business executive
Known for	Co-founder of Atlassian

Scott Farquhar (born December 1979) is an Australian entrepreneur and co-founder of the software firm Atlassian. Together with his business associate Mike Cannon-Brookes, Farquhar established Atlassian with the goal of matching the average graduate starting salary of 48,500 without engaging in conventional corporate roles. They became the first technology billionaires in Australia.

By December 2024, Farquhar's net worth was estimated at 15.5 billion dollars, according to Forbes.

Early life

Farquhar was born in December 1979 in Parramatta, a suburb near Sydney. His education included Castle Hill Primary School and James Ruse Agricultural High School, before earning a Bachelor of Science (BIT) from the University of New South Wales.

He showed an early fascination with computing, dedicating a year to making an old computer operate on Microsoft DOS.

Career

In 2001, Mike Cannon-Brookes reached out via email to classmates at the University of New South Wales seeking collaborators for a technology startup; Farquhar was the sole respondent. They launched Atlassian in 2002, initially funding the venture with $10,000 in credit card debt.

Their inaugural significant product was Jira, a tool designed for issue and project tracking. Rather than employing a sales team, they concentrated on refining their products and sold directly through Atlassian’s website at competitive rates. As of 2016, Atlassian continued to forgo a traditional sales force, placing emphasis on research and development.

In 2005, they established a U.S. office in New York, later moving operations to San Francisco to tap into a broader pool of technical talent.

Farquhar and Cannon-Brookes were honored with the Australian Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award in 2006 for their accomplishments.

Atlassian secured its first external investment in 2010 with a $60 million funding round led by Accel. The company relocated its legal domicile to the UK in 2014 ahead of its initial public offering.

On 10 December 2015, Atlassian debuted on the NASDAQ stock exchange with a market valuation of $4.37 billion. This public offering marked Farquhar and Cannon-Brookes as Australia's inaugural tech startup billionaires.

In 2022, Atlassian shifted its legal domicile once more, this time to the United States.

On 26 April 2024, Farquhar declared his intention to step down as co-CEO effective August to dedicate more time to family, philanthropy, and advancing global technology sectors. He continues to serve on Atlassian’s board as a special adviser and held a 20 percent ownership stake as of 2024.

Other activities

Farquhar plays an active role as an investor in technology startups through his private fund, Skip Capital. This fund holds shares in leading Australian tech unicorns such as Canva and Airwallex, along with international companies including Figma and 1Password.

He contributes as a mentor within the Australian Businesswomen's Network and frequently delivers guest lectures on entrepreneurship at his alma mater, the University of New South Wales. Additionally, Farquhar is a member of the Technology Council of Australia.

In 2014, he co-established Pledge 1%, an initiative encouraging businesses to commit one percent of equity, employee time, products, and profits toward charitable efforts.

Personal life

In 2009, Farquhar wed Kim Jackson, an investment banker; the couple has three sons. He acquired Elaine, the former Sydney harbourside estate belonging to the Fairfax family, in 2017 for around 75 million. After remaining unoccupied for nearly two decades, the property was sold in October 2024 for A$130 million. Farquhar intends to partially demolish the estate and invest 30 million in constructing a modern residence.

Mike Cannon-Brookes, co-founder of Atlassian and a neighbor, owns Fairwater, regarded as Australia's priciest home with an estimated value of approximately 100 million. In a notable incident in April 2022, Farquhar intervened to save a man's life while in Las Vegas.

In 2018, he openly opposed the Australian Government's decision to rename the 457 visas, cautioning that this change might reduce Australia's appeal to skilled technology professionals.

Net worth

Farquhar first appeared on the 2007 BRW Young Rich list alongside business partner Mike Cannon-Brookes and subsequently entered the BRW Rich 200 in 2013 with a net worth estimated at 250 million. By 2016, his wealth was valued by Forbes at 1.75 billion, by BRW Rich 200 at 2.00 billion, and by the Sunday Times Rich List at 906 million. As of , Farquhar's fortune was appraised at 13.70 billion on the Forbes ranking of Australia's 50 Richest individuals. He secured the fourth position on the Financial Review 2025 Rich List, with a net worth of 21.42 billion.

Year	Financial Review Rich List		Forbes Australia's 50 Richest		Sunday Times Rich List
Rank	Net worth (Template:AUD)	Rank	Net worth (Template:USD)	Rank	Net worth (Template:GBP)
2013	Template:Nts	$0.25 billion	n/a	not listed
2014	Template:Nts	$1.07 billion	n/a	not listed
2015	Template:Nts	$1.14 billion	Template:Nts	$1.10 billion
2016	Template:Nts Template:Gain	$2.00 billion Template:Gain	Template:Nts	$1.75 billion Template:Gain		£906 million Template:Gain
2017	Template:Nts	$2.51 billion	Template:Nts	$3.40 billion
2018	Template:Nts	$5.16 billion
2019	Template:Nts	$9.75 billion	Template:Nts	$6.40 billion
2020	Template:Nts	$16.69 billion Template:Gain
2021	Template:Nts Template:Up	$20.00 billion Template:Up
2022	Template:Nts Template:Up	$26.40 billion Template:Up
2023	Template:Nts	$18.16 billion
2024	Template:Nts Template:Up	$22.88 billion Template:Up
2025	Template:Nts Template:Up	$21.42 billion

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