Atlassian shareholders: Who owns the most TEAM stock?
The value of Atlassian (TEAM) stock has been slashed in half this year as a result of the hawkish actions taken by central banks globally to keep inflation at bay.
Companies within the tech sector have seen their valuations plummet as investors perceive this industry as one that is highly susceptible to changes in the macroeconomic backdrop. However, Atlassian stock price has still pleased investors with hefty returns since the stock went public in 2015.
Who are the biggest Atlassian shareholders, how much they have earned since the company went public, and how does the firm’s dual-class shares system work? In this article, we share further details about the ownership structure of this business software giant.
What is Atlassian (TEAM)?
Atlassian is a software development company that was founded in 2002 by entrepreneurs Mike Cannon-Brookes and Scott Farquhar. The company specialises in collaboration software and has created some popular software-as-a-service (SaaS) products such as Trello, Jira and Confluence. The firm generates revenues from subscriptions and maintenance provided to the solutions it develops for its corporate customers.
As of November 2022, the business is run by its two founders who serve as co-CEOs from its headquarters in Sidney, Australia.
Like many tech companies, Atlassian issues two different classes of common shares. Class A shares entitle the holder to cast one vote during the annual Atlassian shareholders meeting. Meanwhile, Class B shares have a voting power of ten votes each.
Atlassian went public in December 2015 when its shares were listed in the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the ticker symbol TEAM. The listing price back then was $21 a share.
The share price moved upwards since inception, pleasing investors with returns over 600% since inception, as of 1 November 2022. The stock reached the record high of $483.13 intraday on 29 October 2021.
Who are the shareholders of Atlassian?
According to form 20-F, a filing required for foreign equity issuers by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), by 30 June 2022, there were only two entities that held more than 5% of Atlassian’s Class A shares.
These two companies were T. Rowe Price Associates and Prudential Financial. The majority of the Class B shares issued by Atlassian are owned by its two founders – 99.45%, according to this filing.
This gives Cannon-Brookes and Farquhar control over 87.92% of the company’s total voting power.
Data from Market Screener, as of 2 November, listed other institutional investors among the major shareholders of Atlassian. These institutions were Sands Capital Management, WCM Investment Management and Artisan Partners LP.
Both classes of Atlassian shares have voting rights, meaning that all Atlassian shareholders have a saying in the company’s affairs in proportion to the number of shares they own. However, Class B shares have a voting power that is ten times higher than that of Class A shares.
Individuals who buy Atlassian stock through a broker can appoint them as proxies, meaning that the brokers can vote on their behalf. However, they can also opt to cast a vote on the company’s key decisions at the Atlassian shareholders’ meetings.
Institutional Atlassian shareholders
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T. Rowe Price
T. Rowe Price is a global asset management firm overseeing more than $1.2trn in assets, as of 30 September 2022. This company offers financial advice and investment products for customers in more than 52 countries. Some of the investment vehicles managed by T. Rowe Price invest in equities from all across the globe. This explains why the firm is listed as one of Atlassian biggest shareholders.
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Sands Capital Management
Sands Capital is a Virginia-based investment fund that manages more than $40bn in assets for its clients, as of 30 September 2022. The company offers various actively-managed investment portfolios with the goal to maximise investors’ capital. These vehicles specialise in venture capital, growth equity, and public equity. Atlassian stock could fall into the category of growth equity, explaining why Sands Capital is one of Atlassian major shareholders.
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WCM Investment Management
WCM is a California-based asset management firm that offers an ample selection of equity-focused investments that utilise different approaches and strategies to generate wealth for clients. Some of the firm’s portfolios invest in foreign stocks, and that could be the reason why WCM is one of the largest TEAM shareholders.
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Artisan Partners
Artisan Partners is an investment management firm that caters to sophisticated investors, including high-net-worth individuals and institutions. The firm had $120bn in assets under management by the end of September 2022. A portion of these assets was invested in global equities such as TEAM stock, making it among the largest shareholders of Atlassian.
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Jennison Associates
Jennison is a registered financial advisor based in New York that oversees more than $171bn in assets for its clients, as at the time of writing (2 November). The company offers several equity-focused investment vehicles that specialise in various segments of the financial markets. Jennison has various portfolios including global, international, small-cap and mid-cap.
Atlassian major shareholders among insiders
As of 30 June 2022, the company listed the following five individuals as the top shareholders of Atlassian among insiders, based on a total of 144,891,749 outstanding Class A shares and 110,035,649 Class B shares.
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Michael Cannon-Brookes - 54,717,824 Class B shares.
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Scott Farquhar – 54,717,824 Class B shares.
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Richard P. Wong – 146,966 Class A shares.
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Enrique Salem – 131,563 Class A shares.
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Steven Sordello – 45,990 Class A shares.
In total, insiders (excluding the two founders) reportedly owned 471,223 Class A shares, corresponding to 0.43% of the total number of shares of this class that were in circulation as of 30 June 2022.
Michael Cannon-Brookes
Michael Cannon-Brookes is the co-founder and co-CEO of Atlassian. According to Forbes, he had a net worth of $12.2bn, as of 1 November 2022 – primarily as a result of the large number of Atlassian Class B shares he owns. He graduated from the University of New South Wales and started to work with his associate Farquhar on the software that is owned by Atlassian today.
Scott Farquhar
Farquhar is the co-CEO and co-founder of Atlassian alongside Cannon-Brookes. He graduated from the same university as his partner, where he obtained two degrees. The goal of the founders was to replicate the starting salary that they would have obtained by joining any tech firm at the time by creating their own venture. According to Forbes, Farquhar’s net worth was $12.1bn as of 1 November 2022.
Richard P. Wong
Mr. Wong is a member of the Board of Directors of Atlassian. He has been serving in this role since 2010. Wong is a partner at Accel and a member of the Board of several other tech firms, including UiPath and Instabug. Wong’s background includes serving as Chief Marketing Officer for Covad Communications and as brand manager for Procter and Gamble (PG).
Final thoughts
Although it may be useful to know who owns the most shares of Atlassian, this data shouldn’t be used as a substitute for your own research. Always conduct your own due diligence, looking at the latest stock news, a wide range of analyst commentary, technical and fundamental analysis.
Remember, past performance does not guarantee future returns. And never trade with money you cannot afford to lose.