Atlassian founders are instant rich listers after Nasdaq float values the company at $8 billion

ATLASSIAN co-founders and former university classmates Mike Cannon-Brookes and Scott Farquar have rocketed to the top of the rich list.

Scott Farquhar and Mike Cannon-Brooker, founders of Atlassian - a successful software internet company.

ATLASSIAN co-founders and former university classmates Mike Cannon-Brookes and Scott Farquar have been rocketed to the top of the rich list overnight.

The software company’s Nasdaq listing made the pair instant billionaires, with its valuation reaching $8 billion ($US5.85 billion) and shares soaring by 32 per cent in opening trade.

Cannon-Brookes and Farquar’s combined wealth places them in the ranks of the 20 wealthiest Australians.

Hitting the boards on Thursday in New York under the code name “TEAM”, the hotly-watched tech stock debuted at $US27.67, up from the $US21 premium investors paid during the company’s initial public offering.

It ticked higher to a peak of $US28.50 before settling to trade strongly around the $US27 mark throughout the session, eventually closing on $US27.78, up 32 per cent.

Do you feel lucky? Mike Cannon-Brookes kicks back at Atlassian’s Sydney office.

Atlassian’s listing on the Nasdaq is the biggest ever float from an Australian company on US markets, with the heavily oversubscribed IPO valuing the company at $6.01 billion ($US4.38 billion).

Its closing share price puts the company’s market value at nearly $8 billion.

The Sydney-based software maker develops and licences a range of workplace collaboration tools including Jira and Confluence and counts Facebook, NASA and Toyota among its 51,000 customers around the world.

Founders Mike Cannon-Brookes and Scott Farquhar, both 33, rang the opening market bell to celebrate their company’s listing.

Mr Cannon-Brookes, who owns 33.3 per cent of the company shared his excitement on Twitter.

“What an amazing day. Thank you to every Atlassian. Huge step on the journey. We are now officially public. Go TEAM!,” he wrote.

Celebrating with home team Farquhar! #goTEAM pic.twitter.com/YZuK1I1eBq

— Scott Farquhar (@scottfarkas) December 10, 2015

Atlassian is the company behind HipChat, a private group chat and instant messaging service used by businesses.

It also offers online software that lets employees work on documents together.

Atlassian said it has more than 860 customers who spent $50,000 or more in 2015, including credit card issuer Visa Inc and electric car maker Tesla Motors Inc.

The Sydney-based company raised $462 million in its initial public offering, selling 22 million Class A ordinary shares at $21 per share, above the expected range of $19 to $20 per share.

It plans to use proceeds from the offering for general corporate purposes, including working capital, and for potential acquisitions.

With AP.