Billionaire Atlassian Corp. co-founder Scott Farquhar has hardly slackened off since quitting as co-chief executive officer last year. He’s now super fit, roams the world and schedules one-on-ones with his kids.
Speaking at a Forbes conference in Sydney, Farquhar described the rare life of a wealthy entrepreneur who dumped the daily grind in his mid-40s, decades before most of the working world.
“I set myself three goals for the first year,” he said. “That was to get fit, spend time with my children and to travel aggressively.”
Farquhar went to Germany to complete an Ironman triathlon, an endurance event comprising a 2.4-mile swim, a 112-mile bicycle ride, and then a 26.2-mile marathon. He went to Sri Lanka with his family, to Patagonia with his wife, and to Glastonbury Festival in the UK with friends. And every week, he has time in the diary for each of his three young children, when he does whatever they want. Farquhar said these moments are a delight.
Farquhar’s personal fortune, mostly derived from Atlassian shares, is $10.5 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Co-founder Mike Cannon-Brookes, worth $10.3 billion, has led the company since Farquhar stepped down.
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Farquhar made his money fast and early. He met Cannon-Brookes at university. They started Atlassian in 2002 with a few thousand dollars borrowed on a credit card, and then demand for project management software exploded. Atlassian’s 2015 initial public offering in New York valued the company at more than $4 billion. It’s now worth $41 billion.
Farquhar said he misses some elements of executive life, but is happy to leave others behind.
“There’s something special about working with a team toward a shared objective, and I miss the energy and excitement,” he said. “I don’t miss the 6 a.m. meetings with people in the US, and the relentless pace that happens from running a global company.”
He also dismissed speculation that he has fallen out with Cannon-Brookes. He said they catch up almost every week. “There’s been no issues,” Farquhar said.
The former co-CEO said he uses artificial intelligence in almost every facet of his life, from choosing music streaming lists to organizing contacts from lists of conference attendees. He said everyone should develop the same habit.
“You’ve got to be doing that every single day,” he said. “It’ll be slower to start with, but you’ll understand what the contours of AI are, and where it’s going to be faster and where it’s not.”
In the commercial world, companies that use AI to capture vast volumes of data can build unimpeachable competitive advantages, he said. Sectors ripe for disruption are education, health and construction, he said.
In decades to come, as AI becomes prevalent, Farquhar said person-to-person connections will be key. People will have a greater need to go to festivals, sporting events or cultural gatherings, he said.
“Humans are going to crave human interaction.”
Farquhar remains an Atlassian director and is chair of the Tech Council of Australia. Farquhar and his wife have also founded technology and infrastructure investment fund Skip Capital.
(Reporting by Angus Whitley)
Disclaimer: This report is auto generated from the Bloomberg news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.
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