July 24, 2023
(THE TRIALS AND TRIBULATIONS OF MIKE CANNON-BROOKES)
July 24, 2023
Hello everyone,
The week beginning Sunday 23rd is a big one for the markets.
It’s earnings season and Fed week all rolled into one.
Right now, investors are happy given the price action, which is based on signs of inflation abating and should lead the Fed to lowering rates down the road. In short, investors are finding it easy to celebrate headlines that talk about earnings beats.
Any signs of a dovish tilt in the Fed announcement will be quite favourable for stocks. Whereas any signs that they are sticking to their hawkish rate hike plans could be the spark for a 5-10% pullback.
Amidst all this financial backdrop, life is marching on.
Right now, it seems to be the season for a lot of high-profile separations in Australia. Andrew “Twiggy” Forrest of Fortescue Metals and his wife have announced their separation and just recently the Aussie tech billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes has split from his wife of 13 years. The couple married in 2010 and have lived with their four children in a $12 m Fairwater home since 2019. Worth an estimated $19b, the Connecticut-born Cannon-Brookes rose to prominence after co-founding software company Atlassian in 2002.
Cannon-Brookes and co-founder Scott Farquhar have since been lauded as one of the greatest success stories in the Australian tech industry. In 2022, Cannon-Brookes invested in one of Australia’s largest renewable energy projects Sun Cable alongside billionaire Andrew Forest. The project, which involved a 120km2 solar and battery farm in the Northern Territory, went into voluntary administration in January 2023 after disputes amongst its backers as well as economic and engineering factors. However, in May this year, Cannon-Brookes rescued the company with an injection of funds. More recently, Atlassian has faced setbacks with the company slashing about 5% of its workforce, just months after a hiring blitz. This resulted in a drop in the share price and the wealth of Cannon-Brookes plummeting by about $7b.
Cannon-Brookes also faced criticism late last year due to Atlassian’s continued business ties with Russia following the invasion of Ukraine. In September, Cannon-Brookes and Farquhar wrote on the company’s website that “Atlassian stood with Ukraine”.
In addition to their business holdings, Cannon-Brookes and wife Annie also amassed a wide property portfolio. In June, the couple paid $14.25 million to buy a home in Newport on Sydney’s northern beaches. The property neighbours the $24.5 million estate they purchased in 2020.
It comes after the Cannon-Brookes joined several investors in buying Dunk Island on Queensland’s Great Barrier Reef in 2022.
Cannon-Brookes attended Cranbrook School before graduating from UNSW. He is the son of banking executive Mike Cannon-Brookes.
Cannon-Brookes and his wife Annie
Cannon-Brookes and Andrew “Twiggy” Forrest