Mike Cannon-Brookes on his climate side-hustles and the nuclear option
In a wide-ranging interview, the Atlassian founder discusses his investments in AGL and SunCable and the problem with Australia's energy policy tribalism.
Most people would have their hands full running a USD48 billion company. But when Mike Cannon-Brookes is not steering Atlassian or watching one of his sports teams (he owns stakes in the Utah Jazz NBA franchise and South Sydney Rabbitohs NRL club) he is probably spending what time he has left on one of his clean energy passion projects.
They include his $500 million-odd stake in ASX-listed gentailer AGL (the nation’s single largest carbon emitter, which he has pushed to decarbonise) and the $30 billion Sun Cable project aiming to supply renewable energy from solar farms in the Northern Territory to Singapore.
Cannon-Brookes recently sat down to discuss these investments and the energy transition more broadly with Capital Brief. The conversation has been condensed and edited for clarity.
AGL Energy’s share price has risen significantly since you bought into the company, but not necessarily due to anything to do with de-carbonisation. Can you tell us more about how the investment is going?
