The company that Farquhar founded with Mike Cannon-Brookes 23 years ago will soon have to do without his day-to-day involvement.
Farquhar will step down as co-CEO on Aug. 31 of this year. Cannon-Brookes was the other co-CEO for all those years and will continue as sole CEO after Farquhar’s departure. Farquhar will thereafter remain involved with Atlassian as board member and special advisor. However, the exact nature of the special advisor role is not further specified in the announcement about stepping down as CEO.
After his departure, Farquhar will also remain more broadly involved in the IT world. “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,” said Farquhar. Skip Foundation and Skip Capital are organizations of the Atlassian founder through which he helps other entrepreneurs, including through investments.
Achievements
Farquhar’s departure coincides with the presentation of quarterly results. Atlassian posted revenue of $1.19 billion (€1.1 billion) in the last financial quarter, representing a year-on-year growth of 30 per cent. Subscription revenue, in particular, increased sharply over the past three months, up 41 per cent. This can be seen as a good sign, as Atlassian’s customers are transitioning from on-premises to the cloud.
Nevertheless, developments regarding the day-to-day management and financial figures could not convince investors. Atlassian’s share value fell more than 6 per cent aftermarket.
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