Mike Cannon-Brookes


Michael Cannon-Brookes is an Australian billionaire, the co-founder and co-CEO of the software company Atlassian. Cannon-Brookes often carries the epithet of accidental billionaire after he and his business partner Scott Farquhar founded Atlassian with the simple aim of replicating the then-typical graduate starting salary of 48,000 at the big corporations without having to work for someone else.

Early life

Mike Cannon-Brookes was born in November 1979, the son of a global banking executive, also named Mike, and his wife, Helen. He was educated at Cranbrook School in Sydney, and graduated from the University of New South Wales with a bachelor's degree in information systems on a UNSW Co-op Scholarship.

Career

With Scott Farquhar, Cannon-Brookes is the co-founder and co-CEO of Atlassian, a collaboration software company. He is also an adjunct professor at the University of New South Wales' School of Computer Science and Engineering. Cannon-Brookes and Farquhar were recognised as the Australian IT Professional of the Year award in 2004, and Australian 2006 Entrepreneur of the Year. Cannon-Brookes was also honoured by the World Economic Forum as a Young Global Leader in 2009 and is a member of The Forum of Young Global Leaders.

Personal life

Cannon-Brookes is married to Annie Todd with four children, and lived in Sydney's eastern suburbs in ; in 2018 he bought Fairwater, Australia's most expensive house for around $100m, next door to Scott Farquhar's A$71 million house Point Piper harbourside mansion, Elaine. He also acquired the 1923-built heritage residence Verona, designed by architect Leslie Wilkinson and located in Double Bay, for $17 million. The house previously belonged to New Zealand philanthropist Pat Goodman. Prior to that, in 2016 Cannon-Brookes bought $7.05 million SeaDragon house, built in 1936, designed by Leslie Wilkinson and updated by architect Luigi Rosselli. His Centennial Park home sold for $16.5 million. In 2019 he purchased the house near Fairwater for $12 million.
Alongside his business partner, Farquhar, Cannon-Brookes debuted on the 2007 BRW Young Rich list of the richest Australians aged under 40; and on the BRW Rich 200 in 2013 with an estimated net worth of 250 million. In 2016, his net worth was estimated by Forbes on the list of Australia's 50 Richest people as 1.69 billion; by BRW Rich 200 as 2.00 billion; and by the Sunday Times Rich List as 906 million. As of 2019, his net worth was estimated to be A$10 billion, being considered by Forbes the youngest billionaire in Australia and the 5th in Australia's 50 Richest 2019 list.

Wealth rankings