Scott Farquhar, co-founder and up until now co-CEO of Atlassian, has announced his decision to step down from his role after 23 years of leading the company. Starting on August 31st, Atlassian will have a single CEO as Farquhar leaves the position for Mike Cannon-Brookes to take over leadership solo. Farquhar, however, will not completely disconnect from the company as he will continue to be part of the Board of Directors and take on the role of special advisor.
“While it is a difficult decision to step away, I do so knowing that Atlassian is exceptionally positioned to seize the enormous opportunities in front of it. We have a strong leadership team and great momentum around cloud, enterprise, and now, artificial intelligence,” Farquhar stated in his official declaration.
The now former CEO will step back to spend more time with his family and focus on philanthropic activities, as well as drive the development of the global technology industry. His partner and current leader, Mike Cannon-Brookes, emphasized the importance of Farquhar in the company: “Scott’s contribution to Atlassian is immeasurable. Starting with just the two of us in 2001, to becoming a global company of over 11,000 employees and more than $4 billion in annual revenue, Atlassian would not be the company it is today without Scott.”
The news of Farquhar’s departure coincides with the release of Atlassian’s financial results for the third quarter of fiscal year 2024, showing significant growth. The company hit revenue of $1,189.1 million, a 30% increase from the same period last year. Additionally, the company achieved a net profit of $12.8 million, surpassing the losses from the same quarter last year.
In non-GAAP terms, Atlassian reported a net profit of $232.5 million compared to $138 million in the third quarter of 2023. This resulted in diluted earnings per share of $0.89.
“We generated $1.2 billion in revenue in the third quarter, a 30% increase from the same period last year, driven by a 41% year-over-year growth in subscription revenue and a record free cash flow of $555 million,” Cannon-Brookes pointed out. He also highlighted the company’s growth in the cloud, with over 300,000 customers using their cloud products.
With Atlassian’s roadmap focused on innovation and cloud growth, Cannon-Brookes sees an opportunity for sustained growth as the company continues to solidify its cloud platform to deliver more value to its customers and strengthen its position in the market.