Tech billionaire Cannon-Brookes takes stake in Aussie rugby club

November 15, 2021 Industry Updates

Tech billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes has taken a 25 percent stake in Australian rugby league side South Sydney, joining Hollywood luminary Russell Crowe and casino titan James Packer as co-owners, the club said Monday.

The Australian co-founder of global software giant Atlassian said he was “excited and humbled” to be involved with the Rabbitohs, who were beaten in the National Rugby League grand final last month.

“The South Sydney Rabbitohs are special,” said Cannon-Brookes.

“Not only are we the oldest, loudest and proudest -– we are an organisation people truly, deeply care about.

“I’m looking forward to partnering with Russell and James and bringing what I can to the table to help the club grow to even greater heights,” he added.

Cannon-Brookes co-founded Atlassian in 2001 with Scott Farquhar and it has since become one of the world’s biggest collaborative software firms, making the pair among Australia’s richest people.

Last year, he took a minority stake in NBA franchise Utah Jazz