MIKE CANNON-BROOKES
Co-founding Atlassian and leading Australia's clean energy push
Mike Cannon-Brookes built a $50 billion software company from a $10,000 credit card debt and never took a dime of VC money to do it. Now he's using that fortune to fight Australia's coal addiction, including a major bid to take over AGL Energy in 2022. He's the tech billionaire who actually shows up at climate protests. Love him or think it's naive, the conviction is real.
Net Worth
$16 billion
Nationality
Australian
Time Horizon
Generational
Risk Appetite
7 / 10
Net Worth Context
- · That's the GDP of a small country — around the size of Greenland.
- · Enough to buy an NBA team and keep $12B for snacks.
CAREER & BACKGROUND
[ "Co-founded Atlassian in 2002 with Scott Farquhar using $10,000 borrowed on a credit card", "Atlassian IPO'd on NASDAQ in 2015 at a $5.8 billion valuation, one of Australia's largest ever tech listings", "Built Atlassian to over 300,000 enterprise customers including 85% of the Fortune 500", "Founded Grok Ventures as his family office to invest in climate and deep technology", "Acquired a major stake in AGL Energy in 2022 and fought to accelerate its coal plant closures", "Backed Sun Cable, a project to build a massive solar farm in Northern Australia and export power to Singapore" ]
COMPANIES & ROLES
[ {"name": "Atlassian", "role": "Co-Founder and Co-CEO", "years": "2002-2023"}, {"name": "Grok Ventures", "role": "Founder", "years": "2013-present"} ]
INVESTING STYLE & PHILOSOPHY
Conviction-driven and mission-aligned. He bets large on companies solving climate change and the energy transition.
He thinks in decades, not quarters.
THE PLAYBOOK
Risk Approach
High on climate tech where he has personal conviction. More conservative on diversified financial bets outside his circle of competence.
Money Habits
One of Australia's biggest philanthropists. He reinvests heavily into mission-driven ventures and climate advocacy rather than accumulating consumer luxuries.
BIGGEST WIN
Atlassian. Co-founding it without VC money and growing it to a $50 billion company is one of the great bootstrap stories in tech history.
BIGGEST MISTAKE
The AGL Energy campaign in 2022 fell short. He accumulated a major stake and fought hard to change the company's strategy, but could not force the coal exit timeline he wanted.
FINANCIAL PHILOSOPHY
He believes the biggest economic opportunity of the next 50 years is the clean energy transition. He would rather own a piece of that than optimize for maximum return in conventional sectors.
FAMILY & PERSONAL LIFE
Was married to Annie Cannon-Brookes, they separated in 2023. Has four children.
Lives in Sydney, Australia.
EDUCATION
Attended the University of New South Wales (UNSW). Dropped out to co-found Atlassian before completing his degree.
BOOKS & RESOURCES
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QUOTES (6)
We started Atlassian on $10,000 of credit card debt. We never really planned to raise VC money — it just became a habit.
Climate change is the biggest market failure the world has ever seen. But it's also the biggest investment opportunity.
We have to stop coal faster. Every year we delay costs us more — in climate damage, in energy costs, and in lost economic opportunity.
When my kids ask me what I did when the world was on fire, I want to have a real answer.
The money follows the mission. If you are solving a real problem at scale, the returns tend to take care of themselves.
Australia has the best solar resources on the planet. We are sitting on the Saudi Arabia of renewable energy and choosing to dig coal instead.
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