---
title: "Atlassian founders split: Farquhar files to sell $526 million, Cannon-Brookes to buy up to $250 million"
description: "Filings reported this week break the founders' 24-year symmetry: Scott Farquhar sells up to $526 million of Atlassian while chief executive Mike Cannon-Brookes buys up to $250 million. The stock has lost a quarter of its value in a month, and holders must pick whose read of the AI seat transition to back."
publisher: "The Inference"
section: "Platforms"
published: 2026-11-10T14:08:05.732Z
modified: 2026-11-10T14:08:05.732Z
canonical: https://theinference.org/article/atlassian-founders-split-farquhar-files-to-sell-526-million-cannon-brookes-to-buy-up-to-250-million
language: en
keywords: "Atlassian, Insider Trades, Stock Moves, Founders, Software"
---

# Atlassian founders split: Farquhar files to sell $526 million, Cannon-Brookes to buy up to $250 million

> Filings reported this week break the founders' 24-year symmetry: Scott Farquhar sells up to $526 million of Atlassian while chief executive Mike Cannon-Brookes buys up to $250 million. The stock has lost a quarter of its value in a month, and holders must pick whose read of the AI seat transition to back.

[Atlassian](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/atlassian)'s founders are on opposite sides of their own stock for the first time. [Filings reported on November 10](https://www.nine.com.au/business-news/scott-farquhar-set-to-sell-700-million-in-atlassian-stock-20261110-p61cum.html) show [Scott Farquhar](https://theinference.org/markets/people/scott-farquhar), who left the co-chief executive job in 2024 and remains a director, may sell up to 3,393,500 Class A shares through December 4, 2027, about $526 million at Monday's $154.90 close [1][2].

Mike Cannon-Brookes, the chief executive who founded the Jira and Confluence maker with him in Sydney in 2002, filed the other way: [a Rule 10b5-1 plan announced on August 6](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1650372/000165037226000031/team-20260806.htm) for up to $250 million of open-market purchases, reported capped at 2,507,500 shares or $250 million, whichever is less, by May 2027 [3][1][2]. At $154.90 the dollar cap binds first [3][1][2]. For 24 years the pair split the company evenly; this month they stopped agreeing on what it is worth [3][1][2].

## A quarter of the value gone in a month

TEAM fell more than 16 percent on Friday to $153 and closed Monday at $154.90, roughly 25 percent under a month ago and 15 percent under five days ago, after Democrats took Congress promising to investigate and regulate AI giants [4][1]. The stock has ranged from $97 to $225 in twelve months [2]. Atlassian is worth about $39 billion, and the SaaSpocalypse, the investor flight from subscription software on AI fears, has also caught [Adobe](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/adobe), Xero and WiseTech [5].

## The September quarter grew anyway

[The results underneath, filed November 5](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1650372/000165037226000049/team-20261105.htm), still compound [6][7]. Revenue was $1.772 billion, up 24 percent, for a second straight quarterly profit of $91 million against a $52 million loss a year earlier; subscription ARR reached $6.812 billion, up 23 percent, and remaining performance obligations, contracted future revenue, jumped 44 percent to $4.746 billion [6][7]. The AI pivot has a price: 1,600 jobs cut in March, and Data Center revenue guided down about 16 percent this fiscal year [6].

*Chart: **Revenue rose year over year in all twelve quarters through the AI selloff** Column chart of Atlassian quarterly revenue from the December 2023 quarter to the September 2026 quarter, rising from about $1.06 billion to $1.77 billion*

*Quarterly revenue, US$ billions, from Atlassian's SEC filings. Labels are calendar quarters; the final bar is the quarter ended September 30, 2026, reported November 5, 2026. [7][8]*

*Chart: **Operating margin just swung double-digit positive, and the guide gives most of it back** Line chart of Atlassian's GAAP operating margin by calendar quarter, swinging between losses and gains from late 2023 to mid 2026, reaching 10.7 percent in the September 2026 quarter, with the December 2026 quarter guided at about 4.5 percent*

*GAAP operating margin, percent of revenue, by calendar quarter, from Atlassian's SEC filings. The final point is the company's December-quarter guidance of about 4.5 percent, a projection rather than a reported result. [9][6]*

## The stakes split, the control does not

Each founder held about 19 percent earlier this year and for years sold identical amounts of stock annually; that symmetry ends with Cannon-Brookes the larger economic holder [2]. Both keep Class B shares carrying more votes than the public's, so formal control moves only marginally [2]. Farquhar calls the sale a resumption of a planned program funding his Skip Foundation: "I remain a Board member and significant shareholder, with full confidence in the company's future" [1].

Two readings settle it: December-quarter guidance of $1.825–1.835 billion with the GAAP operating margin dipping to about 4.5 percent [6], and the Form 4 feed, which must report every purchase under the CEO's plan [3]. Underneath is the seat-license fight traced in October: [Atlassian's human-owner rule for AI agents](https://theinference.org/article/atlassian-s-human-owner-rule-for-ai-agents-is-also-how-the-seat-bill-survives).

## Takeaway

The founders' 24-year even split of Atlassian now extends to their stock: Farquhar filed to sell up to $526 million, Cannon-Brookes to buy up to $250 million, and the December-quarter guide plus the Form 4 feed tell holders whose read to back.

## Sources

1. [Nine.com.au, "Scott Farquhar set to sell $700 million in Atlassian stock", 10 November 2026](https://www.nine.com.au/business-news/scott-farquhar-set-to-sell-700-million-in-atlassian-stock-20261110-p61cum.html)
2. [The Sydney Morning Herald (Nick Bonyhady), "Billionaire founders' stakes in Atlassian diverge with share deals", 9 November 2026](https://www.msn.com/en-au/money/other/billionaire-founders-stakes-in-atlassian-diverge-with-share-deals/ar-AA2h6Bw4)
3. [Atlassian Corporation Form 8-K, Item 8.01 (Cannon-Brookes trading plan), filed with the SEC 6 August 2026](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1650372/000165037226000031/team-20260806.htm)
4. [News24, "Climate activist billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes to take financial control of Atlassian as co-founder Scott Farquhar plans to sell $700 million in shares", 10 November 2026](https://www.news24.com.au/business/finance/climate-activist-billionaire-mike-cannonbrookes-to-take-financial-control-of-atlassian-as-cofounder-scott-farquhar-plans-to-sell-700-million-in-shares/news-story/e515d46e9a4df24db40064c7340756ed)
5. [The Nightly, "Atlassian co-founder Scott Farquhar to sell nearly 3.4 million shares in technology company", 10 November 2026](https://thenightly.com.au/business/atlassian-co-founder-scott-farquhar-to-sell-nearly-34-million-shares-in-technology-company-c-23142842)
6. [tech.sydney, "Atlassian stays profitable as revenue climbs 24% to US$1.77 billion", 5 November 2026](https://tech.sydney/story/atlassian-q1-fy27-profit-revenue-24-percent/)
7. [Atlassian Corporation Form 8-K, Items 2.02 and 5.02 (September quarter results), filed with the SEC 5 November 2026](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1650372/000165037226000049/team-20261105.htm)
8. [US SEC EDGAR, Atlassian Corporation filing history (quarterly figures from its SEC filings), retrieved 10 November 2026](https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?action=getcompany&CIK=0001650372)
9. [Atlassian, quarterly figures from its SEC filings, retrieved 10 November 2026](https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?action=getcompany&CIK=0001650372)


---

Atlassian founders split: Farquhar files to sell $526 million, Cannon-Brookes to buy up to $250 million — The Inference. Canonical: https://theinference.org/article/atlassian-founders-split-farquhar-files-to-sell-526-million-cannon-brookes-to-buy-up-to-250-million