Atlassian’s Mike Cannon-Brookes and Scott Farquhar take $1bn hit from Nasdaq rout
Atlassian co-founders lost close to a combined $1 billion overnight as markets plunged.
Atlassian co-founders Mike Cannon-Brookes and Scott Farquhar lost close to a combined $1 billion overnight as shares in their NASDAQ listed software company Atlassian fell more than 7 per cent.
Atlassian shares fell to $US67.12 each, the lowest level since late July, after trading as high as $US98 in late September. The value of the pair’s Atlassian stock fell $US343 million ($484 million) in one day.
The country’s youngest billionaires have seen almost $3 billion wiped off the paper value of their shareholding alone since the start of October, as Atlassian has been caught in the selldown of many big US tech stocks.
They now have $US4.3 billion ($6.07 billion) worth of stock each for combined share wealth of $12.14 billion. Atlassian shares remain up about 47 per cent since January 1 after having risen 102 per cent in September.
Analysts covering the stock in the US still have several “buy” or “overweight” recommendations, including KeyBanc’s Alex Kurtz.
According to Bloomberg, Mr Kurtz said Atlassian’s recent fall had “created an improved entry point” for investors and that selloff concerns are “overblown”.
Atlassian “should be a core holding for growth investors”, he said.
The duo also have a string of private investments in several tech startups and have made a big splash in the high-end Sydney property scene after making record-breaking purchases of adjacent estates in Point Piper.
In September Mr Cannon-Brookes made the $100 million plus purchase of Fairwater, the former seat of Sydney’s Fairfax family set on 1.12 harbourside hectares on New South Road in the largest transaction in Australian residential property history
Mr Farquar bought Elaine, also from members of the Fairfax family, for $71m in a record-breaking deal last year. Elaine, another waterfront estate, was sold by the estate of the late Lady Mary Fairfax.
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