Australian collaborationware company Atlassian co-founder and co-CEO Scott Farquhar announced Thursday (Apr. 25) that he would step down from his role on Aug. 31, leaving Mike Cannon-Brookes as the company's sole top boss.
Farquhar and Cannon-Brookes have been jointly involved with the company since its inception 23 years ago.
Farquhar said that he wanted to leave the firm to spend more time with his family and to "pursue some other passions," such as "philanthropy, investing, and to help grow and build the global technology industry."
"While it's a difficult decision to step away, I do so knowing Atlassian is exceptionally positioned to take hold of the massive opportunities at its feet," he said as quoted by the Sydney Morning Herald. "We have a strong leadership team, and great momentum around cloud, enterprise, and now, AI."
Beyond August, he would retain his place as board member and would transition to become a special advisor to the company, which confirmed the announcement in its latest earnings call.
Meanwhile, Cannon-Brookes insisted that he would retain the roles he currently has as sole CEO, but did not elaborate on who would take up Farquhar's executive and managerial roles.
"Atlassian has always been my number one professional priority and focus," Cannon-Brookes said, which was a likely signal that his interests in other ventures like in renewable energy would not be a distraction.
Cannon-Brookes also paid tribute to his friend and co-founder on X, formerly Twitter, in response to Farquhar's announcement on the platform.
"Mate. Thank you. It's been one hell of a ride. Couldn't be prouder," he wrote.
Atlassian is known for its workplace softwares Jira, Confluence, and Trello, and is currently worth $79 billion.
