Australian tech billionaire, big bucks, making enemies at home and fans in the US

With his signature beard and ponytail, Mike Cannon-Brooks looks more like an Australian farmer than a tech billionaire who just completed 28 media interviews in 24 hours, wearing blue jeans and a pair of black R.M. Boots Williams.

Nevertheless, a storm made him the most talked about person in Australia that day while ensuring his message was delivered: he did not give up on his long struggle to save AGL, Australia's largest energy company and carbon most significant, to force emitters to fast - carbon-free tracks.

Working closely with Brookfield Asset Management, co-CEO and co-founder of software giant Atlassian twice tried to buy nearly $6 billion AGL to close its coal-fired power plant 15 years early and shift the company to faster acquisition of renewable energy sources. He publicly humiliated the council and targeted the pro-coal government, describing his support for the AGL council as "a fable and a lie."

Last week Cannon-Brookes moved more chips to the center of the table as a last resort. He announced on Twitter that he had acquired an 11 percent stake in AGL for $450 million, making him the largest shareholder. In addition, he said he would urge other shareholders to stop the company from moving forward with a proposed spin-off of the coal-fired power plants, ensuring they remain operational for two decades.

Over dinner with Forbes at a Sydney casino, Cannon-Brookes explained that the effort was driven by making an impact and making money in the process. "We're trying to make a difference," he said. "But it's not climate change as a challenge for the part of Australian business organizations that, let's face it, lag far behind.

At the Environmental Billionaires Club, Cannon-Brooks joins Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos, who have invested billions of dollars in nonprofits and organizations fighting climate change, and big investors like Larry Fink of BlackRock, who advises multinationals to make changes in the meaning of deals. The Paris climate, for example, when phased out coal. Last week, venture capitalist John Doer announced that he would donate $1.1 billion to Stanford University to start a school of climate change research named after him.